Heritability estimate for refractive errors--a population-based sample of adult twins.

The population-based Finnish Twin Cohort study was used to establish a heritability estimate for refractive errors especially for myopia. The twin cohort was derived from adult same-sexed twins in Finland. The total number of twins with both members alive in 1984 was 23,570. Of these, 3,676 twin pairs were monozygotic, and 8,109 pairs dizygotic. The sample for the present study was linked from the Finnish Police Force data base in 1984, where information of a person's possession of a driver's license and the obligation to wear glasses for far correction when driving a motor vehicle is recorded. Correlations in liability were estimated according to a multifactorial method of Smith. Falconer's heritability was 0.62 among males and 0.98 among females in the age group 28-29 years. When compared to previous twin studies of myopia, the proband concordance rates were higher for both MZ and DZ twin pairs.