The Influence of Parents' Background and Their Perception on the Progression of Myopia in Children.

Purpose: To study the influence of parents' educational backgrounds and understanding on the progress of myopia in their offspring. Methods: Spherical equivalent refraction (SE) of the children (aged 6-14) in China was assessed with cycloplegic autorefraction in a two-year longitudinal study. The parents' background information and myopia-related cognition were collected by questionnaires. Results: The offspring of parents with lower education and more myopic SE had higher myopic progression (mean = -1.42 ± 1.06) than the children of other groups (P < 0.05). The parents' understanding of the proper outdoor activity time, sleep duration, reading distance, and indoor illumination for children was not significantly correlated with the progression of myopia in their offspring. The parent's preference for eye care visit frequency had a significant correlation with the myopia development of their children (r = 0.076, P=0.001∗). The mean SE progression was -0.84 ± 1.37 and -0.58 ± 1.29 in the children whose parents considered that extracurricular classes would negatively affect myopia development progression and the children whose parents believed it would not, respectively (P=0.026∗). Conclusions: Most parents misunderstand the influence of insufficient outdoor sports time and extracurricular classes, which require extra near-vision work. Besides, for parents with low educational background and more myopic SE, their offspring had higher myopia progression and may be the key group for myopia control. Finally, parents may obtain life advice and knowledge related to preventing myopia after their children become myopic. It may be of positive significance if this process could take place before myopia onset.

A longitudinal study of the effect of ocular biometrics measures on myopia onset.

PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between ocular biometrics (OB) and myopia onset. METHODS: OB data from students in 4 grades (aged from 6 to 14 years) in China were collected in a 1.5-year longitudinal study. Refractive error was assessed with cycloplegic autorefraction. RESULTS: At baseline, 934 (56.33%) of the subjects (right eye) had myopia. The mean spherical equivalent (SE) and axial length to corneal radius (AL/CR) were - 2.14 ± 1.49 and 3.14 ± 0.11, respectively, in the subjects with myopia and - 0.09 ± 0.21 and 2.98 ± 0.07, respectively, in the subjects without myopia. The correlation between the SE and AL/CR was r = - 0.823 (P < 0.001). The slopes of the SE changing with the AL/CR (and R-squares) were - 0.28 to - 1.80 (0.01-0.14) in the no myopia group, - 3.40 to - 6.20 (0.20-0.48) in the low myopia group, and - 3.37 to - 11.34 (0.16-0.74) in the moderate and high myopia groups. The baseline AL/CR values in grades 1, 3, and 5 were higher in those who developed myopia within 1.5 years. The odds ratio of the AL/CR to myopia onset in 1.5 years was 1.096 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.060-1.135). CONCLUSIONS: Of the five indicators, the AL/CR showed the best correlation with the SE. The adjoint and linear relationship between the AL/CR and the SE tended to increase with SE progression. When myopia progressed beyond a certain range, the AL/CR was significantly different in those without initial myopia who developed it within 1.5 years compared with those who did not. After adjusting for age, sex, school, and grade, the interpretation capability of the current AL/CR to myopia onset in 1.5 years was limited.