Research

Ethnic Disparity in Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Myopia in Adolescents

  • The study purpose is to examine ethnic disparity in prevalence and associated factors of myopia in adolescents using the Unites States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset.

  • Participants who were aged 12–19 years were included from NHANES (1999–2008). Logistic regression analyses were applied to identify risk factors associated with myopia after stratification by race.

  • A total of 9,960 participants were included in the prevalence analysis, and 6,571 in the risk factor analysis. Other race (excluded Mexican American, other Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black) participants had the highest frequency of myopia (42.77%).

  • Multivariate analyses of the whole population suggested that the odds of myopia were significantly lower in participants with household smokers (odds ratio [OR] = 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.66–0.97), and significantly greater in Mexican American race (OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.01–1.62), other Hispanic (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.10–2.92) and in participants with senior high school graduate education (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.01–3.18), watched 2 hours of television daily (OR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.02–1.59), used the computer for 1 hour daily (OR = 1.276, 95% CI: 1.02–1.57).

  • When examined by race/ethnicity, 1 hour of computer use increased the odds of myopia in the non-Hispanic White group, in Mexican Americans a higher family poverty income ratio and 2 hours of television time was associated with myopia, and in the Other Hispanic group, a higher family poverty income ratio was associated with myopia, while males and those with a higher sugar had a lower risk of myopia.

  • The study concluded that risk factors for myopia vary with race/ethnicity.

Publication date

June 21, 2021

Publication

Journal of the Formosan Medical Association (JFMA)

Authors

Shang-Yi Chiang, Tzu-Heng Weng, Che-Min Lin, Shih-Min Lin
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