Abstract:

Objective   To investigate the clinical features and risk factors for children′s myopia. Methods   All the children, referred to the eye clinic,  underwent routine ocular examination and dilated refraction. The results were recorded and  analysed. The questionaire on risk factors of myopia was also performed, and the results were analyzed by multifactor logistic regression. Results   In 3771 students, there were 1793 females (47.55%) and 1978  males (52.45%), among them, 9.33% were from kindergarten， 27.82% were from primary school， 45.35% were from junior middle school， and 17.50% were from senior middle school. 2232 students(59.19%)  were confirmed as having myopia by dilating refraction, including 1041 females (58.06%) and 1191 males (60.21%) without significant difference (χ2=10.58, P=0.479). There were 93 from kindergarten (26.42%), 445 from primary school (42.42%), 1179 from junior middle school (68.95%) and 515 from senior middle school (78.03%). Multifactor logistic regression analysis showed that the increase of age, average work time per day, average time of TV watching per day, and the distance between the eyes and the book of less than one inch were the risk factors for children′s myopia,  while a longer time of outdoor activities was a the protective factor. Conclusion   The incidence of children′s myopia and refractive diopter increase with age. The awareness of eye healthcare in children should be strengthened. To prevent myopia, it is important to reduce the time of short distance reading and TV watching, increase the time for outdoor activities, and maintain the proper posture in reading and writing.

Key words: Children; Teenagers; Myopia; Clinical features; Environmental factors