High prevalence of myopia found among Chinese immigrants in the U.S.

A population-based study found high prevalence of myopia and high myopia among adult Chinese Americans.

Positive correlations were found with age, education and marital status.

The purpose of the study was to estimate the prevalence of refractive errors in adult Chinese Americans 50 years old or older and to compare findings with those from studies of Chinese living in Asia and other ethnic groups in the U.S. The correlation of refractive errors with demographic, lifestyle, clinical and health care access data were also investigated.

There were 4,144 participants, with the majority first-generation immigrants from China and Taiwan who had lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years.

The prevalence of myopia and high myopia was 35% and 7.4%, respectively, comparable to or slightly higher than the rate found in other studies. The rate was higher among younger individuals and was directly correlated with higher acculturation and educational achievements. Interestingly, a higher rate was also found in subjects who had never been married and in those who had a higher household income.

Compared with other ethnic groups in the U.S., especially Hispanics and African Americans, the rate of myopia was substantially higher. According to the authors, the higher level of education of Chinese Americans in the study could be a contributing factor. Similarly, the higher educational attainments of Chinese immigrants as compared to the population of their country of origin could explain the higher rate of myopia found by this study as compared with studies based in Asia.

“The particularly high prevalence of high myopia among Chinese Americans is an important public health concern, because high myopia can lead to a much higher risk of vision-threatening diseases, such as myopic retinopathy and glaucoma,” the authors stated. – by Michela Cimberle

Disclosure: The authors reported no financial disclosures

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Source:

Varma R et al. Am J Ophthalmol. 2017. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2016.10.002.