Epidemiology and risk factors for myopia development

Abstract

AbstractMyopia due to high prevalence in recent years gained importance in epidemiological studies. It is estimated that 1.4 billion people were myopic in 2000, and it has been predicted that by 2050 the number will reach 4.8 billion. It is known that children with early onset and/or rapid progression are at risk of complications associated with high myopia in the future, including retinal detachment, glaucoma, cataract, optic disk changes and maculopathy.The myopia prevalence ranges from 0.7% in Saudi Arabia to 65.5% in the Haidian district of Beijing; with the highest prevalence in schoolchildren in East Asia and Singapore, urban areas of China, Taiwan and South Korea. In Europe the prevalence rates reached 42.7% in a 10–19‐year French cohort. Interestingly, the majority of the studies reporting on myopia prevalence with non‐cycloplegic measurements compared with cycloplegic measurements reported much higher prevalence rates.The major risk factors for myopia onset and progression include parental myopia, ethnic differences, less time outdoors, increased near work and reading distance less than 30 cm, population density and socioeconomic status.