Refraction in Preschool Children in Kazanlak, Bulgaria

Slaveykov, Kiril; Trifonova, K.

doi:10.3897/folmed.62.e47463

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Refractive errors change with postnatal growth 9 – 11 . Although neonates are generally hyperopic, refractive errors usually become low to mild hyperopic, emmetropic, or low myopic by the time children enter elementary school 12 , 13 . Myopic changes then progress, with a decrease in the number of children with hyperopia and an increase in those with myopia 12 , 14 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal analysis of 5-year refractive changes in a large Japanese population

Takeuchi

Meguro

Yoshida

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Refractive changes are reportedly affected by age, sex, and current refractive error. To clarify the pattern of refractive changes in a Japanese population, we conducted a 5-year follow-up longitudinal analysis of spherical equivalent (SE) refractive changes with stratification by sex, age, and SE in 593,273 eyes from Japanese individuals ages 3–91 years. The 5-year SE change with myopic shift dramatically increased over time after age 4 years, and the largest change was observed in both males and females who were age 8 years at baseline [males: − 2.654 ± 0.048 diopters (D); females: − 3.110 ± 0.038 D]. During school age, the 5-year myopic change was greater in females than in males, and emmetropic and low-to-moderate myopic eyes underwent larger myopic changes than hyperopic and high-to-severe myopic eyes. After the peak at age 8 years, the 5-year myopic change gradually declined with age and fell below − 0.25 D at age 27 in males and age 26 years in females. The 5-year SE changes transitioned from a myopic to a hyperopic shift at age 51 in both sexes, and hyperopization advanced more quickly in hyperopic eyes. Our findings highlight the importance of myopia prevention in school-aged children.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal analysis of 5-year refractive changes in a large Japanese population

Takeuchi

Meguro

Yoshida

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…21,22 A direct comparison of the prevalence of myopia should not be done, due to the different methods and criteria used to measure it: with or without cycloplegia, autorefractometer, retinoscopy, subjective refraction, and a cut-off value ranging from -0.25 to -1.0 D in different studies. 23 Regarding Bulgarian children, a small number of epidemiological studies on myopia are available. For example, a comparable study of Plainis et al (2009), nds out that the percentage of myopic children is 14.1% at primary school level and 13.0% at secondary school level for children in Stara Zagora (Bulgaria).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the myopic pupils, only 35.8% of Bulgarian children are reported to wear corrective spectacles. 23 The study of Plainis at al. use a similar methodology and myopia is de ned on refractive error recordings taken with an auto-refractor in the absence of cycloplegia.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Myopia in Bulgarian school children: prevalence, risk factors, and health care coverage

Dragomirova¹,

Antonova²,

Stoykova³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background: The prevalence of myopia has increased in recent years, with changes being dynamic and uneven in different regions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of visual impairment caused by myopia in Bulgarian school children, associated risk factors, and health care coverage.Methods: A cross-sectional study among 1401 children (mean age 10.38, standard deviation 2.70) is conducted in three locations in Bulgaria from 2016 to 2020. Refractive error is measured with an auto-refractor in the absence of cycloplegia, the visual acuity is assessed without refractive error correction. A paper-based preliminary questionnaire is used to collect data on previous eye examinations, prescribed optical vision correction, regularity of wearing corrective glasses and risk factors.Results: Children with myopic objective refraction ≤ -0.75 D and decimal VA≤0.8 on at least one of the eyes are 236 out of 1401 or 16.85%. The prevalence of myopia varies depending on age, geographical location, and school profile. The rate of myopic children at primary schools is 14.3% compared to 19.9% at secondary schools. The prevalence of myopic children in Sofia (the capital) is 31.4% compared to 19.9% in Veliko Tarnovo (medium-sized town) and 8.4% in Devnya (small town). Only 8.8% are the myopic children in the sport school. The health care coverage of all myopic pupils shows that 71.6% have a previous eye examination, 43.2% have prescribed corrective glasses, 27.5% wear their glasses regularly. Risk factors for higher odds of myopia are gender (female), age (adolescence), and parents with impaired vision. Residence in a small town and daily sport activities correspond to lower odds for myopia. The screen time (time in front of the screen calculated in hours per day) is self-reported and is not associated with increased odds of myopia when accounted for the other risk factors.Conclusions: The prevalence of myopia in this study is higher compared to previous studies in Bulgaria. The reported low levels of health care coverage indicate the need to update health policies and improve awareness of the issues of all stakeholders.

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“…The study by Slaveykov and Trifonova (2020) [ 26 ] publishes data about examination of 596 children aged 3–6 years in Kazanlak, a town with a population of 44 760 residents. Myopia is defined as SE ≤ − 0.50 D [ 24 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Myopia in Bulgarian school children: prevalence, risk factors, and health care coverage

et al. 2022

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Background The prevalence of myopia has increased in recent years, with changes being dynamic and uneven in different regions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of visual impairment caused by myopia in Bulgarian school children, associated risk factors, and health care coverage. Methods A cross-sectional study among 1401 children (mean age 10.38, standard deviation 2.70) is conducted in three locations in Bulgaria from 2016 to 2020. Refractive error is measured with an auto-refractor in the absence of cycloplegia, the visual acuity is assessed without refractive error correction. A paper-based preliminary questionnaire is used to collect data on previous eye examinations, prescribed optical vision correction, regularity of wearing corrective glasses and risk factors. Results Children with myopic objective refraction ≤ -0.75 D and decimal visual acuity ≤ 0.8 on at least one of the eyes are 236 out of 1401 or 16.85%. The prevalence of myopia varies depending on age, geographical location, and school profile. The rate of myopic children in age group 6–10 is 14.2% compared to 19.9% in age group 11–15. The prevalence of myopic children in the urban populations is 31.4% (capital) and 19.9% (medium-sized town) respectively, and only 8.4% in the rural population. Our results show 53% increase of the prevalence of myopia in the age group 11–15 compared to a 2009 report. The analysis of data associated with health care coverage factors of all myopic pupils shows that 71.6% had a previous eye examination, 43.2% have prescription for corrective glasses, 27.5% wear their glasses regularly. Risk factors for higher odds of myopia are gender (female), age (adolescence), and parents with impaired vision. Residence in a small town and daily sport activities correspond to lower odds for myopia. The screen time (time in front of the screen calculated in hours per day) is self-reported and is not associated with increased odds of myopia when accounted for the other risk factors. Conclusions The prevalence of myopia in this study is higher compared to previous studies in Bulgaria. Additional studies would be helpful in planning adequate prevention and vision care.

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Refraction in Preschool Children in Kazanlak, Bulgaria

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Longitudinal analysis of 5-year refractive changes in a large Japanese population

Longitudinal analysis of 5-year refractive changes in a large Japanese population

Myopia in Bulgarian school children: prevalence, risk factors, and health care coverage

Myopia in Bulgarian school children: prevalence, risk factors, and health care coverage

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