Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec 12:11:1483069.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1483069. eCollection 2024.

Myopia prevalence, refractive status and uncorrected myopia among primary and secondary school students in Germany

Affiliations

Myopia prevalence, refractive status and uncorrected myopia among primary and secondary school students in Germany

Astrid Hönekopp et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Introduction: The increasing prevalence of myopia worldwide is problematic because myopia can result in severe secondary pathologies, and is associated with considerable financial burden. With plenty of prevalence data available for some regions, current data for Europe remain sparse. Yet, information on myopia prevalence and associations is essential for monitoring, preventive and interventive purposes. Likewise, uncorrected refractive errors are also critical, as they can, e.g., affect educational outcomes, making information on uncorrected myopia valuable for diagnostics and health education.

Methods: We performed non-cycloplegic autorefraction on two samples in Germany. The younger sample included 489 primary school students (grades 3-4, mean age: 9.30 ± 0.78 years), the older sample 1,032 secondary school students (grades 8-10, mean age 14.99 ± 1.12 years). These samples mark the limits of the age range during which school myopia usually emerges.

Results: Myopia (spherical equivalent ≤ -0.75D) prevalence was 8.4% in the younger sample and 19.5% in the older sample. The prevalence was generally higher in higher grade levels, with the most notable difference between grades 8 and 9. Females were more myopic than males in all grades except grade 3, with the largest gender difference in grade 10. The older sample also exhibited a more myopic spherical equivalent than the younger sample. In the older sample, spherical equivalent was more myopic in females than in males, and in grade 9 and 10 participants more than in grade 8 participants. Rates of uncorrected myopia were extremely high: 51.2% in the younger sample and 43.3% in the older sample.

Discussion: The obtained myopia prevalence rates are generally consistent with other European studies, as is the higher prevalence in female than male adolescents, accelerating with age. The high rates of uncorrected myopia warrant further investigation and should inform public health policies, including the implementation of regular refractive screenings.

Keywords: autorefraction; myopia prevalence; refractive error; school myopia; spherical equivalent.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Myopia prevalence and standard error per gender by grade. The data for all genders include eight more participants than the data of males and females combined due to four non-binary participants and four participants with unknown gender.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Myopia prevalence and standard error per school by grade in S2. GSS = general secondary school, ISS = intermediate secondary school, CS = comprehensive school, GS = grammar school.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean SER and standard error per gender by grade. The data for all genders include eight more participants than the data of males and females combined due to four non-binary participants and four participants with unknown gender.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Corrected and uncorrected myopia prevalence and standard error by grade relative to the overall sample.

Similar articles

References

    1. Holden BA, Fricke TR, Wilson DA, Jong M, Naidoo KS, Sankaridurg P, et al. . Global prevalence of myopia and high myopia and temporal trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology. (2016) 123:1036–42. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.01.006, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dolgin E. The myopia boom. Nature. (2015) 519:276–8. doi: 10.1038/519276a, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Morgan IG, French AN, Ashby RS, Guo X, Ding X, He M, et al. . The epidemics of myopia: Aetiology and prevention. Prog Retin Eye Res. (2018) 62:134–49. doi: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2017.09.004, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Xiang Z-Y, Zou H-D. Recent epidemiology study data of myopia. J Ophthalmol. (2020) 2020:4395278. doi: 10.1155/2020/4395278, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baird PN, Saw S-M, Lanca C, Guggenheim JA, Smith III EL, Zhou X, et al. . Myopia. Nat Rev Dis Prim. (2020) 6:99. doi: 10.1038/s41572-020-00231-4 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources