Being a major cause of visual impairment, refractive errors have become a global health burden in recent years, as they can result in a decrease in both quality of life for individuals, and productivity on a societal level. In the current era amidst a pandemic of refractive error - particularly myopia - the affected population is expected to grow in the near future. Therefore, research into how to prevent this at younger age, as well as how to provide high-quality eyecare, has become an important global healthcare topic.

One of the keys to address this issue is to understand the mechanism underlying development of refraction, as this, myopia, and hyperopia tend to stabilize during late adolescence, about 15–21 years of age. Besides, astigmatism was reported to prevail in children, while the power of astigmatism tends to reduce and stabilize with age until adulthood. However, the mechanisms regulating the development of refraction remain unclear. Eye diseases usually exert a significant influence on the development of refraction, and strabismus and amblyopia may occur with the effect of pediatric eye diseases, followed by severe vision impairment or blindness if they remain uncorrected. Exploring how eye diseases impact the development of refraction could help us to understand these mechanisms.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect original research and review articles focusing on the development of refraction and pediatric eye diseases from all current and potential approaches.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• New theoretical models to describe development of refraction
• New theoretical model to describe the influence of eye diseases on development of refraction
• New approaches, techniques, and devices to study the development of refraction
• New improvements or clinical results of in pediatric cataract or refractive surgery
• Biomarkers for refractive errors
• Advances in the correction of refractive errors
• Advanced devices for refractive measurement and analysis
• Epidemiology and global burden of refractive errors
• Physiological processes for the progression of refractive errors
• Modern refractive therapies for stable or stabilized keratoconus
• New improvements or clinical results of ocular diseases which may influence refractive errors