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- Title
Evaluation and Follow-up of Myopia Prevalence Among School-Aged Children Subsequent to the COVID-19 Home Confinement in Feicheng, China.
- Authors
Wang, Jiaxing; Han, Yujie; Musch, David C.; Li, Ying; Wei, Nan; Qi, Xiaoli; Ding, Gang; Li, Xue; Li, Jing; Song, Linlin; Zhang, Ying; Ning, Yuxian; Zeng, Xiaoyu; Li, Yaoling; Sun, Ling; Hua, Ning; Li, Shuo; Jardines, Sandra; Qian, Xuehan
- Abstract
Key Points: Question: Is the myopia burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic temporary, and can it be mitigated? Findings: In this cross-sectional study of 325 443 children, the prevalence of myopia in children aged 6 to 8 years decreased after home confinement was lifted and returned to prepandemic levels. The burden of myopia associated with pandemic-related restrictions among children aged 6 to 8 years was not evident in subsequent cohorts of school-aged children. Meaning: Younger children are in a critical period of myopia development, and this study's findings indicated that refractive development in children aged 6 to 8 years may be susceptible to environmental changes. This cross-sectional study uses school-based photoscreening data to investigate changes in refractive status and prevalence of myopia in children in China after COVID-19 home confinement. Importance: Progression of myopia in a school-aged population due to home confinement (January to May 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic has been previously reported. A key remaining question was whether the myopia spike in children aged 6 to 8 years persisted. Objective: To investigate the changes in refractive status and prevalence of myopia in school-aged children 1 year after home confinement ended in China. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study with a cohort substudy prospectively evaluated data from school-based photoscreening in Feicheng, China. Children aged 6 to 13 years participated in 8 screenings from 2015 to 2021. Exposures: Noncycloplegic photorefraction was conducted using the Spot Vision photoscreener. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were the differences in spherical equivalent refraction (SER) and prevalence of myopia between 2020 (during home confinement) and 2021 (after home confinement). The SER was recorded for each child, and the prevalence of myopia was calculated annually for each age group. Results: A total of 325 443 children participated in the study (51.4% boys, 48.6% girls; age range, 6 to 13 years). Compared with 2020, the mean SER of children in 2021 increased significantly for those aged 6 (0.42 diopters [D]), 7 (0.41 D), and 8 (0.33 D) years. The prevalence of myopia in 2021 was similar to in 2019 for each age group (aged 6 years: 7.9% vs 5.7%; aged 7 years: 13.9% vs 13.6%; aged 8 years: 29.5% vs 26.2%). Both the prevalence of myopia and mean SER for these children returned to their prepandemic levels. Conclusions and Relevance: Compared with 2020, the prevalence of myopia among children aged 6 to 8 years in the 2021 screenings decreased, and the mean SER returned to prepandemic level. The refractive development in children aged 6 to 8 years may be most susceptible to environmental changes. These findings support the premise that age 6 to 8 years is a critical period for myopia development and suggest a need to focus preventive interventions for myopia control on children in this age range.
- Publication
JAMA Ophthalmology, 2023, Vol 141, Issue 4, p333
- ISSN
2168-6165
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2022.6506