Open AccessThe high prevalence of myopia in Korean children with influence of parental refractive errors: The 2008-2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Author(s) -
Dong Hui Lim,
Jisang Han,
TaeYoung Chung,
Se-Woong Kang,
Hyeon Woo Yim
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0207690
Subject(s) - refractive error , medicine , national health and nutrition examination survey , confidence interval , demography , cross sectional study , population , family income , pediatrics , family history , optometry , ophthalmology , eye disease , environmental health , surgery , pathology , sociology , economics , economic growth
The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of parental refractive errors on myopic children in Korean families using a nationally representative survey. We used the ophthalmologic examination dataset of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys IV and V, a nationwide population-based cross-sectional study using a complex, stratified, multistage, probability cluster survey, which were performed from 2008–2012. We included 3,862 children from 5–18 years of age from 2,344 families without any ocular trauma, surgical history, or cataract affecting refractive errors. The generalized estimating equation was conducted to assess the association of refractive errors among children and their parents. Among 3,862 children, 2,495 had myopia, which was 64.6% prevalence. There were 208 children with high myopia (5.4%). The prevalence rate ratio (PRR) for pediatric myopia and high myopia with myopic parents was 1.34 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.24–1.45) and 3.11 (95% CI 1.93–5.01), respectively. The PRR of myopia and high myopia in children significantly increased to 1.37 (95% CI 1.04–1.81) and 11.41 (95% CI 6.24–20.88), as the degree of parental myopia increased ( P < 0.001, respectively). Children with two myopic parents were more myopic than those with only one myopic parent ( P < 0.001, respectively). In addition to parental myopia, the age of the child and household income were also significant risk factors for all degrees of pediatric myopia in a family ( P ≤ 0.005, respectively). In conclusion, Korean children showed high prevalence of myopia. Children with myopic parents showed a significantly greater risk for myopia and high myopia.