Prevalence of Myopia Among Indian School Children in Kuala Lumpur

BACKGROUND: Studies on the prevalence of refractive errors are scarce among Indian children population in Malaysia. Hence, this study aimed at determining the prevalence of refractive error among Indian schoolchildren in Kuala Lumpur. METHODS: A total of 1462 Indian schoolchildren 7–11 years of age participated in this study. The subjects consisted of 733 (50.1%) boys and 729 (49.9%) girls. Non-cycloplegic autorefraction was used to determine the refractive error. Myopia was defined as a SER of 1.00 dioptre (D) or worse, hyperopia as a SER of +0.50 D or more, and astigmatism as cylindrical power equal to or worse than 0.75 DC. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism were 28.9%, 6.9% and 35.4% respectively. The prevalence of anisometropia was 7.7%. CONCLUSION: Myopia was the most common type of refractive error found in this population. Further investigation to identify the cause of myopia is needed in order to slow down the increase in the severity of myopia among Indian schoolchildren