Public Health Burden and Potential Interventions for Myopia

Myopia is the most common ocular abnormality in the world.1,2 Its growing prevalence has resulted in it reaching near ubiquitous status in many East Asian communities, affecting 80% to 90% of young adults in many communities.3–5 Approximately one third of adult Americans and Europeans are myopic.6,7 A limitation of both of these estimates is that they used noncycloplegic refractions, which may have overestimated myopia in younger patients because of accommodation.6,7 The estimated prevalence of myopia (≤−0.75 diopters [D]) among Europeans aged 50 to 54 years is 33.6%, with 2.6% of those in this age group being highly myopic (≤−6 D).