Abstract
BackgroundA significant increase in myopia among children and teenagers can be observed all over the world. Yet at the same time, there is still an insignificant number of studies concerning this health problem.The aim of this study was to assess the level of trait anxiety among myopic group of teenagers in comparison to teenagers with emmetropia, and to confirm whether the level of trait anxiety relates to age and gender.MethodsTwo hundred thirty-nine students aged 13–17 years were included in the study. The study group comprised 114 persons with myopia (81 girls and 33 boys), while the control group comprised 125 persons without refractive error (79 girls and 46 boys). Volunteers completed a set of questionnaires including: personal data, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) (13–14 year-olds), or State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) (15–17 year-olds). The trait anxiety subscales were thus analyzed.ResultsAmong younger adolescents (13–14 years of age) with myopia there was a significantly higher incidence of pathological intensification of anxiety as a constant trait. After taking into account the distribution of gender, there was a higher level of trait anxiety in the group of boys with myopia than in the control group aged 13–17 years and 13–14 years. There was also a higher level of trait anxiety detected in males than in females.ConclusionsMyopia may affect the level of trait anxiety among 13–14-year-olds. In both age groups of girls, a higher percentage of patients with high level of anxiety was discovered (≥7 sten), as compared to their peers without vision defects. Our results can contribute to a more accurate analysis of young teenagers’ psychological problems, especially among boys diagnosed with myopia.
Highlights
A significant increase in myopia among children and teenagers can be observed all over the world
The Australian study proves that myopia is nearly twice as common among 12-year-olds than it was among their peers 5 years ago [5]
After comparing the results of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) using the trait anxiety scales, there were no significant differences between the percentages of persons with high severity of trait anxiety (≥7 sten)) (22,8 % in group with myopia vs 17,6 % in comparative group) and the median sten values in a group of adolescents with myopia (n = 114, Mdn = 5; interquartile range (IQR) = 3) and a comparative group (n = 125, Mdn = 5, IQR = 3, p = 0.266, U = 6537) These groups had a non-normal distribution
Summary
A significant increase in myopia among children and teenagers can be observed all over the world. There has been a tendency of myopia towards higher prevalence, greater severity (≤ -6.0 diopters) and younger age of onset [3]. Scientific findings have shown a growing tendency for the occurrence of myopia among teenagers [4]. This may be caused by civilization changes requiring more near vision work (reading, writing, working on a computer). The Australian study proves that myopia is nearly twice as common among 12-year-olds than it was among their peers 5 years ago [5]. Great efforts have been undertaken to prevent myopia onset and progression
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