Abstract
Purpose :
Smartphones and tablets were started to be used in Chinese children since approximately 2010 and have received rapidly-growing popularity in the last decade. The aim of this study was to investigate the childhood myopia prevalence in China during this period, by performing a comprehensive review of literature and meta-analysis of reports published between 2010 to 2020.
Methods :
We searched PubMed (National Library of Medicine) on Oct., 2023 using terms: “myopia” AND “prevalence” AND (“China” OR “Hong Kong” OR “Taiwan”) and “refractive error” AND “prevalence” AND (“China” OR “Hong Kong” OR “Taiwan”). Studies published prior to 2010, post to 2020, without childhood myopia prevalence based on cycloplegia, or not representative to target population were excluded. Data collected included author, publication year, study design, myopia and high myopia prevalence, sample size, geographical location, and age (which was gathered into 5-year age groups from 0 to 20). Myopia is defined as spherical equivalent ≤-0.50 D (spherical equivalent defined as sphere+0.5*cylinder), and high myopia is ≤-6.00 D. The analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software version 3 (Biostat, Englewood, NJ).
Results :
As shown in Figure 1, a total of 44 articles were identified. In age groups 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, and 16-20, the pooled myopia prevalence were 2.3% (95% CI: 2.0%, 2.6%), 21.8% (95% CI: 21.5%, 22.0%), 46.0% (95% CI: 45.7%, 46.4%), 68.9% (95% CI: 68.3%, 69.4%), respectively. And the pooled high myopia prevalence were 0.4% (95% CI: 0.4%, 0.5%), 3.5%% (95% CI: 3.3%, 3.8%), 9.9% (95% CI: 9.5%, 10.3%) in age groups 6-10, 11-15, and 16-20, respectively. A summary of the the pooled myopia and high myopia prevalence by urbanization and age groups is shown in Table 1.
Conclusions :
Several studies have indicated that measuring refractive error without cycloplegia might lead to an overestimation of myopia prevalence. This study establishes a benchmark for the prevalence of childhood myopia and high myopia in China from 2010 to 2020. This specific decade is notable for its high levels of near work among Chinese children due to the popularity of e-screen, and this specific decade precedes the disruptions caused by the Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak (such as school closures). This established benchmark can be used in future to predict trends in childhood myopia among the broader Chinese population.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.