Refractive status of primary, middle and senior high school students in Shanghai

Aim: To investigate the refractive status in Chinese students ages 7 through 18 years old and to study influencing factors, such as age and gender. Methods: A total of 748 students (748 eyes) from the primary school group (PS: 483 eyes), middle school group (MS: 78 eyes) and senior high school group (SHS: 187 eyes) were included in this prospective observational case series study. The refractive error values were determined using an automatic refractometer. The spherical refractive error, cylinder power and axis were measured by non-cycloplegic screening. Results: For spherical error comparison, significant differences existed between every two groups. The SHS showed more negative spherical values compared with the PS (p < 0.001) and MS (p < 0.001). The myopia prevalence of MS (97.4%) was significantly higher compared with the PS (70.0%) and SHS (80.2%). The high myopia prevalence of SHS (19.3%) was significantly higher compared with the PS (0.6%) and MS (2.6%). Age was negatively correlated with the spherical error (r = -0.666, p < 0.001). Nevertheless, gender had no correlation with it. Conclusions: With age and studying level increasing, Shanghai urban Chinese students ages 7 through 18 years old showed increasing tendencies towards myopia and high myopia. Thus, closer attention should be paid on the refractive status of this population.