Parental myopia risk factor for early-onset myopia in most children
Parental myopia, especially childhood-onset parental myopia, correlated with a higher risk for early-onset myopia in children of Asian, Hispanic, Caucasian and African American ethnicity.
Based on their study results, Xuejuan Jiang, PhD, from the SC Roski Eye Institute, University of Southern California, and colleagues suggested that genetic susceptibility may play a more important role in early-onset myopia than environmental factors.
The study comprised 9,793 children with cycloplegic refraction and parental myopia data. Of these, 16.2% were Caucasian, 20.4% were Hispanic, 22.5% were African American, and 40.9% were Asian including Chinese Singaporean, Asian American and Asian Australian.
Compared with children without parental myopia, the risk for early-onset myopia was highest among children with two parents who had childhood-onset myopia (OR 3.39; 1.99-5.78), followed by those with two parents with myopia (OR = 2.7; 2.19-3.33) and those with one parent with myopia (OR = 1.42; 95% CI, 1.2-1.68).
Additionally, children with two parents with myopia had more myopic refractive error in general compared with those without myopic parents.
Parental myopia also remained associated with more myopic refractive error among children without myopia, particularly when both parents were myopic.
When stratified by race or ethnicity, parental myopia correlated significantly with a higher risk for preschool-age myopia in all four groups.
“Although the present analysis did not control for factors such as levels of outdoor activities and near work, some studies have reported that near work and outdoor activities were not associated with myopia before school age,” Jiang and colleagues wrote.
The researchers noted that it may be particularly important to increase early screening and intervention efforts for African American and Hispanic children who “are not traditionally thought to have a high risk for myopia.” – by Talitha Bennett
Disclosures: Jiang reports she received funding from the National Eye Institute and National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study. Please see the full study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.