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. 2013 Dec;27(12):1353-8.
doi: 10.1038/eye.2013.194. Epub 2013 Sep 6.

Increases in the prevalence of reduced visual acuity and myopia in Chinese children in Guangzhou over the past 20 years

F Xiang  1 , M He  2 , Y Zeng  3 , J Mai  4 , K A Rose  5 , I G Morgan  6
Affiliations

Increases in the prevalence of reduced visual acuity and myopia in Chinese children in Guangzhou over the past 20 years

F Xiang et al. Eye (Lond). 2013 Dec.

Abstract

Background/aims: To estimate the prevalence of myopia based on reduced unaided visual acuity (VA) in Chinese school children over the past 20 years.

Methods: Guangzhou school health authorities have measured VA on Grade 1-12 students from 1988 to 2007 annually, using a LogMAR tumbling E chart. VA is reported as Snellen categories: normal (VA ≥ 6/6), mildly reduced (6/9 < VA <6/6), moderately reduced (6/18 < VA ≤ 6/9), and severely reduced VA (VA ≤ 6/18).

Results: In 1988, over 80% of children in Grade 1 (age 6 years) and about 30% in Grade 12 (age 17 years) had normal unaided VA. By 2007, this dropped to only 60% in Grade 1 and about 10% in Grade 12. Conversely, the prevalence of moderately and severely reduced unaided VA increased from 6.2% in Grade 1 and 62.5% in Grade 12 in 1988 to 14.5% in Grade 1 and 84.11% in Grade 12 in 2007. This rate was unchanged from 2003 to 2007 at both the Grade 1 and Grade 12 levels.

Conclusions: In Guangzhou, the prevalence of reduced unaided VA has increased markedly in the past 20 years, but has stabilized in the past few years. This increase may result from environmental changes, such as increased schooling intensity and urbanization.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Unaided visual acuity categories in Grade 1 from 1988 to 2007.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Unaided visual acuity categories in Grade 12 from 1988 to 2007.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of the prevalence of moderately and severely reduced unaided VA from school testing for 2002 compared with the prevalence of myopia in the Guangzhou RESC data from 2002 and in Taiwan in 2000.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of secular changes in the prevalence of moderately and severely reduced VA in Guangzhou with the secular changes in the prevalence of myopia in Taiwan.,
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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