Abstract
Purpose :
Myopia is highly prevalent in East Asian countries including Korea, and the prevalence has been increasing. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of myopia in adult Korean population using a cross-sectional data of the year 2015-2016.
Methods :
Population-based cross-sectional data of 1,380 subjects aged 19 to 49 years was obtained using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2016 (KNHANES VI-VII). Data including age, sex, refractive errors and potential risk factors were analyzed. The prevalence and risk factors of myopia and high myopia – defined as a spherical equivalent (SEQ) ≤ -0.5 diopters (D) and SEQ ≤ -6.0 D, respectively – were evaluated.
Results :
The prevalence of myopia and high myopia were 84.4 (standard error (SE), ±1.2)% and 11.4 (SE, ±1.0)%, respectively, which decreased with increasing age, from 91.7 (SE, ±1.9)% and 18.0 (SE, ±2.9)% in the population aged 19 to 24 years to 73.0 (SE, ±3.1)% and 8.3 (SE, ±1.8)% in the population aged 45 to 49 years, respectively. In univariate analysis, younger age, parental myopia, higher education (≥12 years), higher education of father and mother (≥12 years) and longer time spent on near work (≥3 hours/day) were associated with increased prevalence of both myopia and high myopia. In multivariate analysis, younger age and higher education (≥12 years) were significantly associated with increased prevalence of both myopia and high myopia. Parental myopia had significant association with high myopia, although its association with myopia was not significant.
Conclusions :
The prevalence of myopia and high myopia in Korean adults was substantially high, which increased with decreasing age. Higher education was associated with both myopia and high myopia, and parental myopia was associated with high myopia.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.