IOVS
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

(Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 2008;49:873-876.)
© 2008 by The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.
DOI:  10.1167/iovs.06-1097
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lam, D. S. C.
Right arrow Articles by Cheung, E. Y. Y.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lam, D. S. C.
Right arrow Articles by Cheung, E. Y. Y.

The Effect of Parental History of Myopia on Children’s Eye Size and Growth: Results of a Longitudinal Study

Dennis S. C. Lam,1,2 Dorothy S. P. Fan,1,2 Robert F. Lam,1 Srinivas K. Rao,1 King S. Chong,3 Joseph T. F. Lau,4 Ricky Y. K. Lai,1 and Eva Y. Y. Cheung1

1From the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and the 4Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, The People’s Republic of China; and the 3Department of Finance and Decision Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, The People’s Republic of China.

PURPOSE. To evaluate the effect of parental myopia on eye size and growth in Chinese children.

METHODS. A school-based, cross-sectional survey was performed in Chinese children 5 to 16 years of age. A longitudinal cohort study was conducted 1 year later. The effects of parental myopia, parental education level, and near work performed by the child on the refractive error and ocular biometry of the child were assessed.

RESULTS. There were 7560 children enrolled in the initial study (response rate: 76.3%). One year later, 4468 children (response rate: 75.9%) in the original cohort (with the exception of those who had completed primary schooling) were evaluated, to determine eye growth. Although children with a stronger parental history of myopia tended to be less hyperopic before the onset of myopia (spherical equivalent refraction [SER] = 0.43 D, 0.67 D, and 0.68 D in children with two, one, and no myopic parents respectively; P = 0.007), the axial lengths did not follow the same pattern (axial length [AL] = 23.11, 23.07, and 23.15 mm; P = 0.429). Eye growth and myopic shift in refraction occurred more rapidly among children with a stronger parental history of myopia (annual AL growth/myopia progression = 0.37 mm/–0.22 D, 0.26 mm/–0.07 D, and 0.20 mm/–0.02 D in children with two, one, and no myopic parents, respectively; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS. Ocular biometric data in Chinese children suggest that parental history of myopia influences the growth rate of the eye, rather than its size before the onset of myopia, as previously reported in Caucasian children. Further longitudinal studies involving children of different ethnicities are warranted.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2008 by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology