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Condition (MeSH)

Refractive Errors

ClinicalTrials.gov lists 1,931 trials for Refractive Errors or a narrower condition beneath it. Alcon Research has the most among industry and government lead sponsors, with 174.

MeSH D012030 Eye Diseases C11
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Phase 1 Phase 1 36 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 14 Phase 2 Phase 2 41 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 7 Phase 3 Phase 3 78 Phase 4 Phase 4 76 Not applicable Not applicable 1,294 Observational Observational 377 Phase 1 Phase 1 36 Phase 1/2 Phase 1/2 14 Phase 2 Phase 2 41 Phase 2/3 Phase 2/3 7 Phase 3 Phase 3 78 Phase 4 Phase 4 76 Not applicable Not applicable 1,294 Observational Observational 377

Trials per phase (log scale)

1 more section with rows

418 of the 1,931 trials are tagged with Refractive Errors itself; the rest are tagged with a narrower condition beneath it.

Get the Refractive Errors report as a PDF

The PDF carries up to 50 rows of each section, where the page shows the first few, with the sources listed. Enter a work email and confirm it from the message we send, and the report follows by email.

When did Refractive Errors trials start? (32)

Shown in this order: most recent first, 1990 onwards. 2026 is partial: trials registered with a 2026 start date so far, not a full year. 2 trials are registered to start in 2027 or later, and not listed here.

Trials over time, by phase

  • Phase 1
  • Phase 1/2
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 2/3
  • Phase 3
  • Phase 4
  • Not applicable
  • Observational
  • Other (Unknown)

Top of scale: 150

1995: 1 trials (Observational 1) 1996: 1 trials (Phase 3 1) 1997: 1 trials (Phase 3 1) 1998: 1 trials (Phase 4 1) 1999: 3 trials (Observational 1, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 1) 2000: 2 trials (Not applicable 1, Phase 4 1) 2001: 2 trials (Not applicable 2) 2002: 5 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 1, Phase 1 1) 2003: 9 trials (Not applicable 7, Phase 2 1, Phase 1 1) 2004: 15 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 10, Phase 4 2, Phase 1 1) 2005: 27 trials (Observational 10, Not applicable 5, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 4, Phase 2 2, Phase 1 2) 2006: 18 trials (Observational 2, Not applicable 11, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 2, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 1 1) 2007: 45 trials (Observational 5, Not applicable 27, Phase 4 5, Phase 3 4, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 2) 2008: 58 trials (Observational 11, Not applicable 41, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 2, Phase 2/3 1) 2009: 54 trials (Observational 3, Not applicable 38, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 1, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 1) 2010: 77 trials (Observational 6, Not applicable 63, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 4, Phase 2 1) 2011: 57 trials (Observational 13, Not applicable 36, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 1) 2012: 60 trials (Observational 5, Not applicable 46, Phase 4 4, Phase 3 1, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 3) 2013: 56 trials (Observational 8, Not applicable 44, Phase 4 2, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 1) 2014: 71 trials (Observational 9, Not applicable 52, Phase 4 5, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 1, Phase 1 1) 2015: 75 trials (Observational 12, Not applicable 59, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 1, Phase 1/2 1) 2016: 88 trials (Observational 10, Not applicable 71, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 1, Phase 2 4) 2017: 81 trials (Observational 17, Not applicable 54, Phase 4 6, Phase 3 2, Phase 2 2) 2018: 123 trials (Other 1, Observational 23, Not applicable 87, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 2, Phase 2/3 2, Phase 2 1, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 4) 2019: 106 trials (Other 2, Observational 20, Not applicable 72, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 3, Phase 2 4, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 1) 2020: 106 trials (Other 1, Observational 33, Not applicable 62, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 4, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 1) 2021: 112 trials (Other 2, Observational 24, Not applicable 74, Phase 4 1, Phase 3 4, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 3, Phase 1 3) 2022: 144 trials (Observational 35, Not applicable 82, Phase 4 5, Phase 3 11, Phase 2 6, Phase 1/2 1, Phase 1 4) 2023: 150 trials (Observational 36, Not applicable 100, Phase 4 3, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 2, Phase 1 4) 2024: 131 trials (Other 1, Observational 30, Not applicable 86, Phase 4 2, Phase 3 5, Phase 2 3, Phase 1/2 2, Phase 1 2) 2025: 129 trials (Other 1, Observational 32, Not applicable 78, Phase 4 5, Phase 3 5, Phase 2/3 1, Phase 2 6, Phase 1 1)

Trials registered with a start date in each year, 1990 onward, stacked by phase (complete years only; the current partial year is in the table's notes). The table below lists the same counts, most recent years first.

Trials started per year
Year Trials started
2026 (partial year) 112
2025 129
2024 131
2023 150
2022 144
2021 112
2020 106
2019 106
2018 123
2017 81

Forecast of the full-year count, planned starts included, not rows of this table: about 130 trials starting in 2026 and about 130 in 2027, the average of the 24 months through September, counted as registered and carried forward. The rows of this table count trials registered so far with a start date in the year, planned starts included; the forecast looks ahead to the count for the whole year, so it is not the same measure. In backtests on conditions of this size, forecasts made part-way through the year were typically off by about 13 percent and ran about 12 percent low against the count later registered; forecasts made before the year began were off by about 19 percent and ran about 17 percent low against the count later registered, and had about the same error as repeating last year's count. These figures rest on a few years of history (target years from 2018 to 2025, varying by figure), place each condition as it is mapped today rather than as it was then, and score against a count for the newest year that was still being revised. Only condition series were scored.

Prediction, not a registry value: median of 32 months from start to primary completion across 149 trials still running at the 2026-10-09 snapshot; registered median of 8 months across 1,250 trials with a primary completion typed Actual. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov / AACT (CTTI), public domain.

What phase are Refractive Errors trials in? (9)

Shown in this order: phase order.

Show the trials by phase as a table
Trials by phase
Phase Trials
Phase 1 36
Phase 1/2 14
Phase 2 41
Phase 2/3 7
Phase 3 78
Phase 4 76
Not applicable 1,294
Observational 377
Unknown 8

How many Refractive Errors trials are recruiting? (8)

Shown in this order: the order a trial moves through, from not yet recruiting to unknown.

Trials by recruitment status
Status Trials
Not yet recruiting 112
Recruiting 139
Enrolling by invitation 17
Active, not recruiting 96
Completed 1,205

Status as registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. Each trial is counted once.

Which lead sponsors run the most Refractive Errors trials? (8)

Shown in this order: most trials first. Lead sponsors the registry classes as industry, NIH, US federal, other government or network. A hospital or university the registry files as government can appear here. Sponsors it classes as academic or other are shown on the full page, because that class cannot separate an institution from a named investigator.

Lead sponsors
Sponsor Trials
Alcon Research 174
CooperVision, Inc. 150
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. 78
Bausch & Lomb Incorporated 57
CIBA VISION 48

Interventions as named in the registry (15)

Shown in this order: most trials first.

Interventions as named in the registry
Drug Trials
Cataract surgery 25
Atropine 1% 20
Clear Care 16
Pilocarpine Nitrate 5% 10
Control (placebo) group 7

These are the names sponsors entered on ClinicalTrials.gov that we have not matched to a single molecule. Some are drugs under a brand or code name; others are procedures, doses or arm labels.

Which serious adverse events do Refractive Errors trials report? (10)

Shown in this order: most subjects affected first. Subjects affected summed across trials, a cross-trial signal, not a rate.

Serious adverse events in this condition's trials
Adverse event Subjects affected Trials
Intraocular lens extraction 119 1
Corneal endothelial cell loss 99 1
Iris adhesions 89 2
Cataract nuclear 66 1
Intraocular lens implant 66 3

Which publications cover Refractive Errors? (277)

Shown in this order: major-topic papers first, then newest, then most linked to trials.

Publications
Publication Journal Year Major topic
Manhattan Vision Screening and Follow-up Study (NYC-SIGHT): Vision and refractive error results. Clinical & experimental optometry 2025 Yes
Method comparison and overview of refractive measurements in children: implications for myopia management. BMJ open ophthalmology 2024 Yes
Ocular features of NGLY1 deficiency from a prospective longitudinal cohort. Journal of AAPOS : the official publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus 2024 Yes
Interventions for myopia control in children: a living systematic review and network meta-analysis. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews 2023 Yes
Corneal higher order aberrations by Sirius topography and their relation to different refractive errors. BMC ophthalmology 2023 Yes

Sub-conditions in MeSH (7)

MeSH descendants one level down with at least one trial, most trials first.

Not on this page

Not measured: delivery record.

Checked, with nothing recorded for this condition: prevalence and rare-disease identity.

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