The Increasing Burden of Myopia in Israel among Young Adults over a Generation: Analysis of Predisposing Factors

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the trends in prevalence of myopia in Israeli young adults over approximately a generation, as well as associated factors and variation in the impact of these factors on myopia prevalence in this region over time.

Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Participants: One hundred four thousand six hundred eighty-nine consecutive persons 16 to 19 years of age born between 1971 and 1994 who had not yet enlisted in the Israeli Army but had completed the medical profiling process.

Methods: Using data collected at a north Israel recruitment center, the prevalence of myopia over time was estimated, and a polynomial regression analysis was performed to assess significance of nonlinear trends. Associations of demographic and socioeconomic factors with myopia were assessed, and trends over time were analyzed using a factorial logistic regression.

Main outcome measures: The primary outcome measure was factors associated with the prevalence of myopia over time. The secondary outcome measure was a description of the change in prevalence of myopia over time.

Results: The prevalence of myopia increased 1.284-fold over 24 years from 20.4% among participants born between 1971 and 1982 to 26.2% among participants born between 1983 and 1994. A quite similar increase was observed among males (from 17.9% to 22.7%, respectively) and females (from 23.9% to 30.8%, respectively). The factors found to be associated with myopia were as follows: more recent date of birth, female gender, more years of education, being the eldest child, non-Israeli ethnic origin, and urban residence. However, there were significant trends over time in the effects of some of these factors, most notably an attenuation of the difference between participants of different religions in the recent birth-years period. Most of these associations and trends were observed in both males and females separately, with some gender-specific variations. Immigrants from Ethiopia who were raised in Israel were highly more likely to demonstrate myopia than those who arrived at an older age.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated an increase in the prevalence of myopia and the possible associations of urbanization- and higher education-related factors among several subpopulations and the risk for myopia developing.