Hönekopp Astrid, Tommes Lisa-Marie, Doebler Philipp, Weigelt Sarah
Research Unit Vision, Visual Impairments and Blindness, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany.
Research Unit Statistical Methods in the Social Sciences, Department of Statistics, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2024 Dec 12;11:1483069. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1483069. eCollection 2024.
The increasing prevalence of myopia worldwide is problematic because myopia can result in severe secondary pathologies, and is associated with considerable financial burden. With plenty of prevalence data available for some regions, current data for Europe remain sparse. Yet, information on myopia prevalence and associations is essential for monitoring, preventive and interventive purposes. Likewise, uncorrected refractive errors are also critical, as they can, e.g., affect educational outcomes, making information on uncorrected myopia valuable for diagnostics and health education.
We performed non-cycloplegic autorefraction on two samples in Germany. The younger sample included 489 primary school students (grades 3-4, mean age: 9.30 ± 0.78 years), the older sample 1,032 secondary school students (grades 8-10, mean age 14.99 ± 1.12 years). These samples mark the limits of the age range during which school myopia usually emerges.
Myopia (spherical equivalent ≤ -0.75D) prevalence was 8.4% in the younger sample and 19.5% in the older sample. The prevalence was generally higher in higher grade levels, with the most notable difference between grades 8 and 9. Females were more myopic than males in all grades except grade 3, with the largest gender difference in grade 10. The older sample also exhibited a more myopic spherical equivalent than the younger sample. In the older sample, spherical equivalent was more myopic in females than in males, and in grade 9 and 10 participants more than in grade 8 participants. Rates of uncorrected myopia were extremely high: 51.2% in the younger sample and 43.3% in the older sample.
The obtained myopia prevalence rates are generally consistent with other European studies, as is the higher prevalence in female than male adolescents, accelerating with age. The high rates of uncorrected myopia warrant further investigation and should inform public health policies, including the implementation of regular refractive screenings.
全球近视患病率不断上升，这是个问题，因为近视会导致严重的继发性病变，并带来相当大的经济负担。尽管一些地区有大量患病率数据，但欧洲目前的数据仍然稀少。然而，近视患病率及相关信息对于监测、预防和干预目的至关重要。同样，未矫正的屈光不正也很关键，例如，它们会影响教育成果，因此未矫正近视的信息对于诊断和健康教育很有价值。
我们在德国对两个样本进行了非散瞳自动验光。较年轻的样本包括489名小学生（三至四年级，平均年龄：9.30±0.78岁），较年长的样本包括1032名中学生（八至十年级，平均年龄14.99±1.12岁）。这些样本代表了学校性近视通常出现的年龄范围界限。
较年轻样本中近视（等效球镜度≤-0.75D）患病率为8.4%，较年长样本中为19.5%。患病率通常在较高年级水平更高，八至九年级之间差异最为显著。除三年级外，所有年级女生近视程度均高于男生，十年级性别差异最大。较年长样本的等效球镜度也比年轻样本更近视。在较年长样本中，女生的等效球镜度比男生更近视，九、十年级参与者比八年级参与者更近视。未矫正近视率极高：较年轻样本中为51.2%，较年长样本中为43.3%。
所获得的近视患病率一般与其他欧洲研究一致，女性青少年患病率高于男性且随年龄增长而加速这一情况也是如此。未矫正近视的高比率值得进一步研究，并应为公共卫生政策提供依据，包括实施定期屈光筛查。
