Refractive errors in a rural Chinese adult population the Handan eye study.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the prevalence of and risk factors for myopia and other refractive errors in a rural, adult, Chinese population.


METHODS
Population-based, cross-sectional study.


METHODS
A clustered, random sampling procedure was used to select 7557 Chinese people aged >or=30 years from Handan, China.


METHODS
All eligible subjects were invited to undergo a comprehensive eye examination, including standardized refraction. Myopia, high myopia, and hyperopia were defined as a spherical equivalent (SE) in the right eye of more than -0.5 diopter (D), less than -5.0 D, and 0.5 D or more, respectively. Astigmatism was less than -0.5 D of cylinder. Anisometropia was defined as a difference in SE of >1.0 D between the 2 eyes. Only phakic eyes were analyzed.


METHODS
Myopia and other refractive errors.


RESULTS
We included 6491 (85.9% participation rate) eligible subjects in this study. Adjusted to the 2000 China population census, the prevalence rate of myopia was 26.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 25.6-27.8), hyperopia 15.9 % (95% CI, 15.0-16.8), astigmatism 24.5% (95% CI, 23.5-25.5), and anisometropia 7.7% (95% CI, 7.0-8.4). The prevalence of high myopia was 1.8% (95% CI, 1.5-2.1). Using a multivariate regression model, current smoking (odds ratio [OR], 0.7, 95% CI, 0.5-0.9), hours of reading (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.4), diabetes (OR, 8.4; 95% CI, 2.2-32.5), and number of family members with myopia (OR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7, for each family member) were associated with myopia in younger persons (30-49 years). High school or higher education (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1-3.1), diabetes (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2-2.7), nuclear opacity (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.2-2.3), and number of family members with myopia (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2-1.9) were risk factors in persons >or=50 years of age.


CONCLUSIONS
Myopia affects more than one quarter of rural Chinese persons >or=30 years of age. Myopia is more common in younger people and is associated with different risk factors than in older people.
Liang
Yuan Bo
YB
Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Science Key Laboratory, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China.
Wong
Tien Yin
TY
Sun
Lan Ping
LP
Tao
Qiu Shan
QS
Wang
Jie Jin
JJ
Yang
Xiao Hui
XH
Xiong
Ying
Y
Wang
Ning Li
NL
Friedman
David S
DS
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution