Abstract
Purpose :
The global surge in myopia rates over the past few decades isn’t completely understood. We completed a retrospective, observational study to evaluate the rates and risk factors for pediatric myopia in a large, diverse population.
Methods :
Kaiser Permanente Southern California patients aged 5-19 years old with at least one refraction recorded in 2013 were included (n = 60,789). Age, race/ethnicity, refractive error, average neighborhood income (by zip code), body mass index (BMI), and self-reported history of exercise were collected. Rates and relative risks of myopia (defined as ≤ -1.0 D) were categorized. Cox and robust Poisson regression models were used to estimate the relative risk for Myopia. Medical chart review of 100 patients was also completed to validate the electronic abstraction of refractive error.
Results :
Of the 60,789 patients, 41.9% of patients had myopia. The rate of myopia increased with age from 14.8% in 5-7 year olds to 59.0% in 17-19 year olds. Asian/Pacific Islander (RR 1.64, CI 1.58 – 1.70) had an increased association with myopia when compared to White patients. At least 60 minutes of daily exercise was associated with lower risk of myopia (RR 0.87, CI 0.85 – 0.89).
Conclusions :
Myopia is common and prevalence in children increases with age. Asian children are at highest risk for myopia. Exercise appears to be protective and represents an important modifiable risk factor that may be a target for future public health efforts.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.