Computerised data of 110,236 Singaporean males aged 15 to 25 (mean 17.75) years who underwent compulsory medical examination from April 1987 to January 1992 were used to estimate the prevalence and severity of myopia among young Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian Singaporean males with different educational levels. The prevalence and severity of myopia amongst the groups with different educational levels were compared. These groups were fairly well-matched for important known confounding factors such as age, sex, race and degree of urbanisation of place of residence. Our data showed a positive association between educational attainment and both the prevalence and severity of myopia. Both the prevalence of myopia and the proportion of myopes with severe myopia were in general higher among those with more years of formal education.
Adolescent ; Adult ; China ; ethnology ; Cohort Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Educational Status ; Humans ; India ; ethnology ; Malaysia ; ethnology ; Male ; Myopia ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Refraction, Ocular ; Retrospective Studies ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Visual Acuity

Computerised data of 110,236 Singaporean males aged 15 to 25 (mean 17.75) years who underwent compulsory medical examination from April 1987 to January 1992 was used to estimate the prevalence of myopia among young Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian Singaporean males. The prevalence of myopia amongst the different racial groups was compared after they had been matched for important known confounding factors such as age, sex, educational attainment and degree of urbanization of place of residence. The estimated myopia prevalence was 48.5% in Chinese, 34.7% in Eurasians, 30.4% in Indians and 24.5% in Malays. The overall myopia prevalence rate for all races combined was 44.2%. Within each educational group, the Chinese generally had the highest myopia prevalence whilst the Malays generally had the lowest. Myopia prevalence among the Indians tended to be between that of the Chinese and the Malays. Having matched the various racial groups for age, sex, educational attainment and degree of residential urbanization, it would appear that racial and cultural differences are major influences responsible for the difference in myopia prevalence observed amongst the different races.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Asia ; ethnology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Europe ; ethnology ; Humans ; Male ; Myopia ; ethnology ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Singapore ; epidemiology