Abstract
Purpose :
To describe trends in prevalence, and incidence and progression rates of myopia among Singapore teenagers in the Singapore Cohort Study of the Risk Factors for myopia (SCORM).
Methods :
The SCORM study is a longitudinal school-based study that recruited 1979 children aged 7 to 9 years old, who were initially examined annually over a 9-year period (1999-2007). The data from children who were examined at years 8 (n=1249) and 9 (n=1036) are presented here. At each follow-up visit, the children underwent comprehensive eye examinations that included cycloplegic autorefraction (Canon RK-F1) and ocular biometry measurements using the A-scan biometry machine.
Results :
The prevalence of myopia (SE<-0.5D) and high myopia (SE<-6.0D) among Singapore teenagers aged 11-18 years old was 69.2% [95% confidence interval (CI) 66.5-71.7] and 7.1% (95% CI 5.8-8.7), respectively. The prevalence of myopia was highest in Chinese at 75.2%, and lower in Indians at 58.4% and Malays (52.7%) (p<0.001). The annual incidence was 14.3% (95% CI 10.4-18.2). Males had twice the incidence of females (p=0.021), and adolescents with longer axial lengths (p<0.001) and deeper vitreous chamber (p<0.001) had higher myopia incidence. The myopia progression rate was -0.33 Diopters (D) (SD=0.41) per year, with no difference by age, race or gender. The change in axial length was 0.29 mm (SD = 0.40) per year. However, adolescents with higher myopia levels at 2006 had significantly faster myopia progression rates (p<0.001).
Conclusions :
Myopia prevalence rates in Singapore teenagers, especially Singapore Chinese teenagers, continue to be one of the highest in the world. Compared with the previous initial annual incidence (48%) and progression rates (0.8 D per year) in 7 to 9 years, the annual incidence and progression rates were lower during teenage years in the same SCORM children.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.