Abstract
BackgroundInfancy is the of a child’s visual development. Refractive errors, especially myopia, are a common vision disorder. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore refractive errors and risk factors for myopia among infants aged 1–18 months in Tianjin, China.MethodsA total of 583 infants aged 1–18 months participated in this cross-sectional study at Tianjin Women’s and Children’s Health Center in China from February 2019 to November 2020. Each infant received a complete ophthalmologic examination, and myopia-related risk factors were investigated using a questionnaire.ResultsA total of 583 eligible infants participated in this study, including 312 (53.5%) boys and 271 (46.5%) girls. There were 164 (28.1%) premature born infants. The mean age was 6.59 ± 4.84 months (range, 1–18 months). The mean spherical equivalent (MSE) for the right eye was 1.81 D ± 1.56 D, with no difference related to sex (P = 0.104). Refractive state showed an average hyperopia of +2.74 ± 1.74 D at early ages, followed by a trend toward less hyperopia, finally reaching +1.35 ± 1.44 D at the age of 18 months (P ≤0.001). The overall prevalence rates of myopia (MSE ≤ −0.50 D), emmetropia (−0.50 D<MSE<+0.50 D), hyperopia (MSE ≥ +2.00 D), and astigmatism (≥ 1.50 D) were 5.1%, 10.8%, 42.7%, and 49.9%, respectively. The chi-square tests showed that gender, gestational age ≥37 weeks, winter birth, prenatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, and parental history of high myopia were associated with children’s myopia (P = 0.022, P = 0.023, P = 0.038, P = 0.015, P<0.001, respectively).ConclusionsAmong Chinese infants in Tianjin, hyperopia and astigmatism were the most frequent refractive errors, and the diopter was lower in individuals with higher age. In a small number of infants with myopia, genetic factors and the prenatal environment were associated with the early onset of myopia.
Highlights
Infancy is the of a child’s visual development
Previous studies [1, 2] have shown that the refractive state in neonates is hyperopic, and different powers in different meridians of the cornea result in relatively high astigmatism
The mean spherical equivalent (MSE) of all the children was 1.81 D (±1.56, 95% 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.68–1.94)
Summary
Infancy is the of a child’s visual development. Refractive errors, especially myopia, are a common vision disorder. The purpose of this study was to explore refractive errors and risk factors for myopia among infants aged 1–18 months in Tianjin, China. Huo et al BMC Ophthalmology (2021) 21:403 understand the starting point and the corresponding refractive error at the different stages of development [7]. Hyperopia or astigmatism remains a major risk factor for amblyopia in different ethnicities and geographic regions [8], myopia boom is growing globally, and 49.8% of the world population is predicted to be myopic in 2050 [9]. Rupal et al have found that from 3 years of age and onward, greater time spent outdoors is associated with a reduced risk of incident myopia in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) [10]. The education intensity [11], near-work activities [12, 13], electronic devices [14, 15], ethnicity, and parental socioeconomic status [13, 16, 17] are positively associated with myopia in school-age children
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