Prevalence and risk factors of childhood blepharoptosis in Koreans: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Abstract

Purpose: Childhood blepharoptosis may cause cosmetic and functional problems in children, but there is a paucity of studies about its epidemiology. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of childhood blepharoptosis and associated risk factors in a representative Korean population. Methods: This cross-sectional nation-wide study analysed the data set acquired from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008–2012. A total of 8218 children aged 3–18 years were included. The prevalence of childhood blepharoptosis, defined as a margin reflex distance (MRD) of < 2 mm in either eye, was estimated, and the risk factors were identified using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The mean age of participants was 11.3 ± 0.1 years, and 52.8 ± 0.6% were boys. The overall prevalence of childhood blepharoptosis in Korea was 8.0% (95% CI, 6.9–9.1%). Boys exhibited a higher prevalence of blepharoptosis than girls at most of ages. Levator function increased with age in the normal general population. The proportion of subjects exhibiting MRD1 ≥ 4.0 mm also increased significantly with age ( p < 0.001). Male gender, higher body mass index, and urban residency were significantly associated with childhood blepharoptosis. Conclusions: The prevalence of childhood blepharoptosis is higher in urban obese boys. The increase of levator function with age should be considered in evaluations of childhood ptosis.

Correlation between body composition and blepharoptosis in adults

“…Most prior studies evaluating the relationships between obesity and blepharoptosis have focused on the harmful effects of obesity and body fat, while neglecting the effect of LBM, a counterpart of FM [10][11][12][13]. In the present study, the positive association between LBMI and blepharoptosis was statistically insignificant after mutual adjustment for FMI, suggesting that the positive association of LBMI with blepharoptosis could be due to the confounding effect of FMI, as obese subjects tend to have high muscle mass as well as high FM [26].…”

“…Several epidemiological studies have suggested a potential association between blepharoptosis and general body condition, especially obesity [10][11][12][13]. These prior studies evaluated obesity using body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), or body fat percentage, and demonstrated that obesity and blepharoptosis are positively associated [10].…”

Modified conjoint fascial sheath suspension for the correction of severe congenital blepharoptosis in pediatric patients at different ages

“…Congenital blepharoptosis is mostly caused by dysplasia of the oculomotor nucleus or levator muscle (LM), and patients mainly show partial or complete blepharoptosis. It has been estimated that levator function is poor in 71.8% of eyes with congenital blepharoptosis, and unilateral cases account for 64.7%-75.0% (1,2). Patients with congenital blepharoptosis, especially unilateral cases, are more susceptible to the development of amblyopia, usually due to convergent strabismus, high astigmatism, or anisometropia (3).…”