Facts about the project
Project members
Pelsin Demir, Karthikeyan Baskaran, António Filipe Teixeira Macedo, Linnaeus University
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University
Financier
Linnaeus University and Specsavers Sverige
Timetable
1 March 2018-1 March 2022
Subject
Optometry (Department of Medicine and Optometry, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
More about the project
Myopia is becoming more common among children across all regions of the world, and the onset of myopia is getting earlier and earlier, with more children progressing to high myopia. High myopia is also associated with greater future risks to vision. By 2050, myopia is projected to affect almost 5 billion people or 50% of the world's population. An increased use of electronic devices such as mobile phones, computers and tablets has been noted among children and young people prefer to stay indoors more and more to spend hours in front of various electronic screens with a short working distance (i.e. sitting too close to the eye).
Previous prevalence research in Sweden is limited to retrospective chart reviews, old studies involving only clinic patients and particular sample group and some without cycloplegic accommodative control. This study is the first population-based study designed to examine myopia prevalence and incidence in Swedish school-aged children. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence and incidence of myopia and risk factors for myopia progression in larger group of children in Sweden. The study will be performed on school children aged 8-16 years old. All primary and secondary schools in Sweden are invited to participate in this study. This is a large multi-centre international study, and the study will also be conducted in Australia, China, Vietnam and India.
