Objective:
To understand the longitudinal changes of refractive errors in adolescent myopia screening in the suburb of Shanghai, and to provide reference for targeted measures of myopia prevention and intervention.
Methods:
By using the cluster sampling method, 1 346 students were selected from two primary schools in a town in the suburb of Shanghai. Physical development indicators and refractive examination parameters of non ciliary muscle paralysis, and uncorrected visual acuity in 2017 and 2020 were collected from the Shanghai adolescent refractive development file. Longitudinal change of spherical equivalent (SE) refractive were assessed. A linear regression model was used to examine the relationship between the rate of SE change with characteristics of the students.
Results:
The average annual incidence of myopia was 16.36%, and the SE degrees of the left and right eyes of myopia students decreased by 225 degrees for three years. Girls (right eye Z=-4.33; left eye Z=-3.75, P<0.01), newly-onset myopia and persistent myopia (right eye Z=634.45; left eye Z=638.85, P<0.01) was a key for the rapid progress of refractive power.
Conclusion
The proportion of students with severe low vision is relatively high, and the apparent shifts toward more hyperopia in myopia students call for effective prevention and control programs based on changes in refractive to slow the progression of adolescent myopia.