Refractive error and ethnicity in children.
OBJECTIVE
To report the baseline prevalence of refractive error in the study population.


METHODS
A multicenter, longitudinal, observational study of refractive error and ocular development in children from 4 ethnic groups.


METHODS
The study population included 2523 children (534 African American, 491 Asian, 463 Hispanic, and 1035 white) in grades 1 to 8 (age, 5-17 years). Myopia was defined as -0.75 diopters (D) or more and hyperopia as +1.25 D or more in each principal meridian, and astigmatism was defined as at least a 1.00-D difference between the 2 principal meridians (cycloplegic autorefraction).


RESULTS
Overall, 9.2% of the children were myopic, 12.8% were hyperopic, and 28.4% were astigmatic. There were significant differences in the refractive error prevalences as a function of ethnicity (chi2, P<.001), even after controlling for age and sex (polychotomous logistic regression, P<.001). For myopia, Asians had the highest prevalence (18.5%), followed by Hispanics (13.2%). Whites had the lowest prevalence of myopia (4.4%), which was not significantly different from African Americans (6.6%). For hyperopia, whites had the highest prevalence (19.3%), followed by Hispanics (12.7%). Asians had the lowest prevalence of hyperopia (6.3%) and were not significantly different from African Americans (6.4%). For astigmatism, Asians and Hispanics had the highest prevalences (33.6% and 36.9%, respectively) and did not differ from each other (P =.17). African Americans had the lowest prevalence of astigmatism (20.0%), followed by whites (26.4%).


CONCLUSIONS
There were significant differences in the prevalence of refractive errors among ethnic groups, even after controlling for age and sex (P<.001).
Kleinstein
Robert N
RN
University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Optometry, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Jones
Lisa A
LA
Hullett
Sandral
S
Kwon
Soonsi
S
Lee
Robert J
RJ
Friedman
Nina E
NE
Manny
Ruth E
RE
Mutti
Donald O
DO
Yu
Julie A
JA
Zadnik
Karla
K
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001251:Astigmatism / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006956:Hyperopia / Q000208:ethnology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009216:Myopia / Q000208:ethnology; D015995:Prevalence; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000208:ethnology*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*