Prevalence of Refractive Error in Singaporean Chinese Children: The Strabismus, Amblyopia, and Refractive Error in Young Singaporean Children (STARS) Study

Dirani, Mohamed; Chan, Yiong‐Huak; Gazzard, Gus; Hornbeak, Dana M.; Leo, Serene; Prabakaran, S.; Zhou, B.; Young, Terri L.; Mitchell, Paul; Varma, Rohit; Wong, Tien Yin; Saw, Seang‐Mei

doi:10.1167/iovs.09-3587

Cited by 195 publications

(197 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Prevalence of myopia in young Chinese children has been noted to be generally higher-ranging from 5.5 to 38.1% in children aged 6 months to 15 years of age [3][4][5] -compared with that found by studies in the West where prevalence rates ranged from 0.8 to 11.9% in predominantly young Caucasian children aged 6 months to 12 years of age. [6][7][8] Several environmental risk factors have been implicated in development of myopia including family history 9 and near work, 10 while breastfeeding has been identified as a possible protective factor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Parental smoking and childhood refractive error: the STARS study

Iyer

Low

Dirani

2012

Eye

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Purpose To assess the relationship between parental smoking and childhood refractive errors in Singapore Chinese children aged 6-72 months recruited through the STrabismus, Amblyopia, and Refractive errors in Singaporean children study. Methods A total of 4164 children were recruited, with a positive response rate of 72.3% (n ¼ 3009). Cycloplegic refraction measurements were obtained from all children by trained eye professionals. Parents underwent an interviewer-administered questionnaire with information on demographics, lifestyle, and parental smoking history being obtained. Results Spherical equivalent readings were obtained for 87.7% of the children. In all, 52.1% were male (n ¼ 1375). The overall prevalence of myopia (at least À 0.5 D) was 11.0%. Overall, 37.1% of the fathers interviewed gave a history of smoking. Among the mothers interviewed, 9.2% gave a history of smoking, 6.6% had smoked during the child's life, and 2.2% had smoked during the pregnancy. Maternal history of ever smoking, smoking during child's life, and smoking during pregnancy were associated with decreased odds ratio (OR) of childhood myopia (OR 0.50 (P ¼ 0.01), OR 0.39 (P ¼ 0.01), and OR 0.3 (P ¼ 0.14), respectively). Paternal history of smoking was associated with decreased OR of childhood myopia (OR of 0.72 (P ¼ 0.02)). Conclusion In light of this finding of an inverse association between parental smoking and childhood myopia, further studies are suggested to better understand the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor pharmacology in ocular development. This may pave the way for the development of targeted treatment strategies for prevention of myopia.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Parental smoking and childhood refractive error: the STARS study

Iyer

Low

Dirani

2012

Eye

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“…30 In Singapore, the prevalence of myopia was 29.0% in 7-year-olds, 34.7% in 8-year-olds and 53.1% in 9-year-olds in the school-based population of the Singapore Cohort Study of Risk factors for Myopia (SCORM) 36 while the Strabismus, Amblyopia and Refractive error Study in Singapore Preschool Children (STARS) reported that the prevalence of myopia was 11.0% in Chinese children aged 6-72 months. 37 In Hong Kong, a large cross-sectional survey reported that the prevalence was 17.0% in children aged <7 years and which increased to 37.5% among those aged 8 years and 53.1% in children aged more than 11 years. 38 The prevalence of myopia among Taiwanese Chinese primary school children aged 7 years was 5.8% in 1983, 3.0% in 1986, 6.6% in 1990, 12.0% in 1995 and 20.0% in 2000.…”

Section: Prevalence Of Myopia In Adults In Western Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worldwide prevalence and risk factors for myopia

Pan

Ramamurthy

Saw

2011

Ophthalmic Physiologic Optic

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Background: Myopia, the most common type of refractive error, is a complex trait including both genetic and environmental factors. Numerous studies have tried to elucidate the aetiology of myopia. However, the exact aetiology of myopia is still unclear. Purpose: To summarize the worldwide patterns and trends for the prevalence of myopia and to evaluate the risk factors for myopia in population-based studies. Recent findings: The prevalences of myopia vary across populations of different regions and ethnicities. In population-based studies on children, the prevalence of myopia has been reported to be higher in urban areas and Chinese ethnicity. The regional and racial difference is not so obvious in adult populations aged over 40 years. More time spent on near work, less time outdoors, higher educational level and parental history of myopia have been reported to increase the risk of myopia. Conclusions: Environmental factors play a crucial role in myopia development. The effect of gene-environment interaction on the aetiology of myopia is still controversial with inconsistent findings in different studies. A relatively hyperopic periphery can stimulate compensating eye growth in the centre. Longitudinal cohort studies or randomized clinical trials of community-based health behaviour interventions should be conducted to further clarify the aetiology of myopia.

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“…Myopia is a public health problem in East Asia, with prevalence rates in Singapore of 8% in 5-year olds 1 and 36.3% in 7-9-year-old school children, 2 and nearly 40% in adults Z40 years. 3 Although there have been many studies that have documented the risk factors for myopia, there is no conclusive evidence that modifying these risk factors may have an impact on the prevalence of myopia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of measurements of time outdoors and light levels as risk factors for myopia in young Singapore children

Ramamurthy

et al. 2012

Eye

116

163

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Aims To compare methods to measure time outdoor and light levels, two possible predictors of myopia, in Singapore children. Methods Outdoor time from a diary and portable light meter over a 1-week period was compared in 117 Singapore children aged 6-12 years with and without myopia. All children wore a (HOBO Pendant temp/light Part # UA-002-64) light meter for 1 week and the parents filled the 7-day outdoor diary to track the outdoor activity. Results Mean outdoor time from diary and time with light levels was 5.44 hours per week and 7.91 hours per week, respectively, during school term and school holidays. Time spent with light levels of 41000 Lux from the light meter were 7.08 h per week and 9.81 h per week, respectively, during school term and school holidays. The intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.21 and 0.28 for outdoor time from the diary and light meter (1000 Lux cut-off) during the school term and holidays, respectively. The correlation coefficient was 0.34 (95% CI 0.05, 0.58) for a weekday during school holidays, 0.17 (À0.14, 0.45) for a weekday during school term, 0.07 (À0.16, 0.29) for a weekday during school term, and 0.25 (0.02, 0.46) for a weekend during school term. Conclusions The agreement between the light meter and 1-week diary was poor to fair. Both instruments measure different parameters, time outdoors and light intensity, and could therefore capture different aspects of risk in future myopia studies.

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Prevalence of Refractive Error in Singaporean Chinese Children: The Strabismus, Amblyopia, and Refractive Error in Young Singaporean Children (STARS) Study

Cited by 195 publications

References 33 publications

Parental smoking and childhood refractive error: the STARS study

Parental smoking and childhood refractive error: the STARS study

Worldwide prevalence and risk factors for myopia

Comparison of measurements of time outdoors and light levels as risk factors for myopia in young Singapore children

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