Abstract
Purpose :
A better understanding of the association between policy intervention promoting outdoor activities and the changes in the prevalence of myopia among preschoolers is critical for improvement of preventive strategies against myopia during early childhood. This study aimed to report the prevalence of preschool myopia and its secular trend after implementing a policy intervention promoting outdoor activities in a Taiwan preschool population.
Methods :
The repeated countywide population-based, cross-sectional surveys were based on the Yilan Myopia Prevention and Vision Improvement Program (YMVIP) which has been conducted since August 2014. Myopia prevention strategies, such as increasing outdoor exercises (2 hours/weekday), have been promoted in all kindergartens in Yilan County, and school-based eye examinations, including cycloplegic autorefraction, and caregiver-administered questionnaires have been performed annually for all preschoolers aged 5-6 years.
Results :
Among 20,419 kindergarteners aged 5-6 years in 6 school-year cohorts from 2014 through 2019, a total of 18,621 (9,715 [52.2%] boys) were finally included for analysis. The prevalence of myopia (spherical equivalent ≤-0.5D in either eye) among preschoolers aged 5-6 years declined continuously from 15.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.1%-16.6%) in the 2014 cohort which was not yet exposed to the YMVIP before eye examinations to 8.4% (95% CI, 7.4%-9.4%) in the 2016 cohort which had been exposed to the YMVIP for up to 2 years and remained relatively stable in the subsequent cohorts with 2-year YMVIP exposure (8.5% [95% CI, 7.6%-9.5%] in 2017, 10.0% [95% CI, 9.0%-11.0%] in 2018, and 9.1% [95% CI, 8.1%-10.1%] in 2019). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed a significant and dose-response association between the duration of exposure to preventive strategy and the prevalence of myopia (one-year YMVIP exposure: odds ratio [OR], 0.86; 95% CI, 0.75-0.999; two-year YMVIP exposure: OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.49-0.61) after controlling other myopiogenic factors.
Conclusions :
This population-based evidence showed high prevalence of preschool myopia and an L-shaped decline after introducing strategies to promote outdoor activities in kindergartens.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.