ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To explore whether genetic and environmental factors influenced ophthalmic disease among children of multicultural families, ethnic Koreans, and native Koreans. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 120 patients who visited the pediatric ophthalmology clinic of a university hospital were included. They were equally divided into three groups: a multicultural group, an ethnic Korean group, and a native Korean group. Parental nationalities, age, gender, chief complaint, visual acuity, refractive error, diagnosis at the initial visit and the extent of compliance with treatment were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the multicultural group, 14 (35%) of 40 patients were Chinese immigrants, and constituted the most common subgroup. None of the age at initial visit, gender, the prevalence of refractive error, or amblyopia status differed significantly among the three groups. In the multicultural and native Korean groups, the proportions of abnormal eye positioning as the chief complaint were higher than that of the ethnic Korean group (p = 0.005). The most common diagnosis in the two former groups was strabismus. Myopia was the most common diagnosis in the ethnic Korean group. The prevalence of strabismus in the multicultural group (55%) was significantly higher than that in the native Korean group (30%) and the ethnic Korean group (20%) (p = 0.003). The prevalence of strabismus in the multicultural group was significantly higher than in the other groups (p = 0.003). However, we found no significant difference in strabismus subtype among the three groups. In the general family group, the extent of loss to follow-up was significantly higher than in the other groups (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The chief complaint, the prevalence of ophthalmic disease, and the compliance rate differed significantly among the three groups. Both genetic and environmental factors may have played a role.