Longitudinal analysis of 5-year refractive changes in a large Japanese population

Masaki Takeuchi,Eiichi Okada,Keisuke Yatsu,Nobuhisa Mizuki,Takahiro Yamane,Masao Yoshida,Akira Meguro

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-06898-x

Masaki Takeuchi, Eiichi Okada + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06898-x

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Abstract

Refractive changes are reportedly affected by age, sex, and current refractive error. To clarify the pattern of refractive changes in a Japanese population, we conducted a 5-year follow-up longitudinal analysis of spherical equivalent (SE) refractive changes with stratification by sex, age, and SE in 593,273 eyes from Japanese individuals ages 3–91 years. The 5-year SE change with myopic shift dramatically increased over time after age 4 years, and the largest change was observed in both males and females who were age 8 years at baseline [males: − 2.654 ± 0.048 diopters (D); females: − 3.110 ± 0.038 D]. During school age, the 5-year myopic change was greater in females than in males, and emmetropic and low-to-moderate myopic eyes underwent larger myopic changes than hyperopic and high-to-severe myopic eyes. After the peak at age 8 years, the 5-year myopic change gradually declined with age and fell below − 0.25 D at age 27 in males and age 26 years in females. The 5-year SE changes transitioned from a myopic to a hyperopic shift at age 51 in both sexes, and hyperopization advanced more quickly in hyperopic eyes. Our findings highlight the importance of myopia prevention in school-aged children.

Highlights

Myopia, which is commonly defined as a spherical equivalent (SE) refraction of ≤ − 0.50 diopters (D), is the most common refractive error of the human eye in the modern world and has a significant impact on public h ealth[1]
Similar trends have been reported in population-based studies with other U.S and Australian adult community residents, including in the Framingham Eye S tudy[18], Baltimore Eye Study Survey[19], and Blue Mountains Eye Study[20], all suggesting that myopia is common in adults and hyperopia becomes more common with age
Because myopia progression at different life stages depends on age and current refractive error, refractive changes should be assessed in a large cohort finely stratified by age, sex, and refractive error, but no such reports have been published

Summary

Introduction

Myopia, which is commonly defined as a spherical equivalent (SE) refraction of ≤ − 0.50 diopters (D), is the most common refractive error of the human eye in the modern world and has a significant impact on public h ealth[1]. In one study evaluating the effectiveness of progressive addition lenses and single vision lenses on myopia progression over 3 years in 86 Japanese myopic children ages [6,7,8,9,10,11,12] years, greater myopia progression was observed in the more myopic eyes and at younger ages[27]. These longitudinal studies have investigated refractive changes over time, but the sample sizes did not allow for sufficient statistical power to fully elucidate the pattern of changes. Because myopia progression at different life stages depends on age and current refractive error, refractive changes should be assessed in a large cohort finely stratified by age, sex, and refractive error, but no such reports have been published

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