Prevalence of myopia in schoolchildren of a highly urbanized city in Eastern Siberia

Abstract

Myopia is one of the most urgent problems of modern ophthalmology. Statistics show that the number of children and adolescents suffering from myopia is steadily increasing worldwide. But it also noted that in different regions of the Russian Federation, the proportion of children who are diagnosed with myopia may differ markedly. Purpose: to determine the prevalence and structure of myopia in schoolchildren of the city of Krasnoyarsk, depending on age and gender. Materials and methods. A survey of 3005 students of secondary schools in the city of Krasnoyarsk aged from 6 to 18 years, including 1,421 schoolboys and 1,584 schoolgirls, was conducted. Refraction was determined after cycloplegia using the autorefractometry method. Results. The predominant type of refraction in primary school students of both fi elds is emmetropia, myopia is in second place and other refractive errors are in third place. The prevalence of myopia in schoolchildren increases as they grow up. At the same time, in the schools of the city of Krasnoyarsk, already in the primary grades in the group of subjects of both sexes, the proportion of students with myopia was 17.9 %, in the middle – 36.8 %, and by the high classes it reached 49.7 %. When considering the data obtained, depending on gender, approximately the same proportions of myopia were found in primary grades in both schoolgirls (19.2 %) and schoolchildren (16.7 %), in middle grades, a statistically significant predominance of myopic refraction in girls, compared with boys (42.8 and 29.5 %, respectively, p < 0.05). In high school, the proportion of myopia increases both in girls to 52.1 % and in boys to 47.2 %. The proportion of subjects with emmetropic refraction decreases as individuals of both sexes grow up. The percentage of other refractive errors remains without significant gender-age changes. Low myopia was the most common in all groups, but its percentage significantly decreased as they moved to higher grades, simultaneously with an increase in the proportion of moderate and high myopia. Conclusions. There is an increase in the prevalence of myopia in schoolchildren as they move to higher grades. A threefold increase in the proportion of myopia in high school compared with primary school was revealed. It is necessary to further study the prevalence of myopia in all Russian regions and develop preventive programs to control myopia in children.