The effect of parental history of myopia on eye size of pre-school children: a pilot study

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate parental history of myopia as a predictor of refractive error and eye size in Chinese pre-school children. METHODS: A total of 514 pre-school children (aged 2.3--6.4 years) were examined. Parental history of myopia, amount of near work performed, refractive status and ocular biometry were recorded. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in spherical equivalent refraction (SER) among children with no myopic parents (mean+0.94+/-0.05 D), one myopic parent (mean+0.77+- 0.07 D) and two myopic parents (mean+0.79+/- 0.12 D) (p=0.102) after controlling for age and amount of near work. Further, children with more myopic parents did not have longer eyeballs (p=0.335). CONCL..