Five‐year incidence and progression of myopic maculopathy in a rural Chinese adult population: the Handan Eye Study

Abstract

The five-year incidence of myopic maculopathy was 0.05% in rural Chinese adults aged 30+ years. The progression rate in participants with myopic maculopathy was 35.3%, indicating the importance of regular follow-up for these patients.

Six-Year Changes in Myopic Macular Degeneration in Adults of the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases Study

“…We found a 6-year eye-specific cumulative incidence of MMD of 1.2% among myopic eyes of adults aged 40 years or older in the SEED study, which was higher than that of the Handan Eye Study (0.22% over a 5-year period among 2236 myopic eyes of adults aged ≥30 years residing in rural China). 15 Similar to our findings, the development of diffuse chorioretinal atrophy (Meta-PM category 2) was predominant in new MMD cases in the Handan Eye Study. 15 Our higher incidence of MMD could be related to the higher prevalence of myopia and high myopia (35.8% and 6.4%, respectively) in our population, compared with the latter study (22.8% and 1.4%, respectively).…”

“…15 Similar to our findings, the development of diffuse chorioretinal atrophy (Meta-PM category 2) was predominant in new MMD cases in the Handan Eye Study. 15 Our higher incidence of MMD could be related to the higher prevalence of myopia and high myopia (35.8% and 6.4%, respectively) in our population, compared with the latter study (22.8% and 1.4%, respectively). 15 However, the disparity in incidence among populations may also be due to varying age compositions in each study population.…”

“…15 Our higher incidence of MMD could be related to the higher prevalence of myopia and high myopia (35.8% and 6.4%, respectively) in our population, compared with the latter study (22.8% and 1.4%, respectively). 15 However, the disparity in incidence among populations may also be due to varying age compositions in each study population. 14 In contrast with the relatively high prevalence of MMD in Singapore, the incidence of MMD illustrates slow degenerative changes in MMD development.…”

“…Our finding of the 6-year cumulative progression of MMD at 17.0% among 288 eyes with existing MMD in the SEED study was similar to that of the Beijing Eye Study (5-year progression of 15.1%; n = 139 eyes; patients aged ≥40 years) and the Blue Mountains Eye Study (5-year progression of 23.9%; n = 46 eyes; patients aged ≥49 years), but lower than that of the Handan Eye Study (5-year progression of 35.3%; n = 51 eyes; patients aged ≥30 years). 6,7,15 The differences in progression rates of MMD among these populations may be due to varying definitions of MMD adopted (e.g., Curtin's classification), different age compositions, different myopia severity levels, and various ethnicities in each study population. Despite the varying factors in each population, a relatively similar progression rate of MMD (15%-25%) was reported in most studies.…”

“…16 However, this study reported MMD changes among highly myopic adults only and did not consider individuals with low or moderate myopia who are also at risk of developing MMD. 11 In population-based studies, the 5-year progression rate of MMD ranged from 15.1% to 35.3%, 6,7,15 and the 10-year progression rate was reported to be 77.4% of eyes with MMD. 16 In contrast, clinic-based case series among Japanese patients reported high progression rates of MMD (54.7% to 74.3%) in very highly myopic eyes of patients with mean follow-up of 10 years or more.…”