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Age, gender, higher education significant factors in high rate of myopia in Asian population
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SAN FRANCISCO — Asian men 75 years or older had the highest rates of myopia, with increased rates in individuals with higher educations, a study in Singapore found. In addition, the study found that Chinese patients had a higher prevalence of myopia (30.8%) than Malay (18.2%) and Indian (22.6%) populations.
"There was ethnic variation — myopia was higher in Chinese than non-Chinese," Colin S.H. Tan, MD, said at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting here. "The risk factors are males and higher education status."
He presented the results of the prospective, randomized Singapore Longitudinal Age Study that he conducted with colleagues of 1,835 individuals aged 55 to 85 years old in Singapore.
The study also found that axial length was longer in Chinese patients than in other racial groups, at 23.7 mm, compared with 23.4 mm (P = .018), in men and those individuals with higher educations. A decrease in axial length occurs with age, however, Dr. Tan said, which could be "suggestive of actual refractive change."