Prevalence of myopic eyes in private practice and public care services in Brazil: 11 years of retrospective analysis

ABSTRACT

Purpose:

This study aimed to examine the prevalence of myopic eyes over 11 years (2008-2018) in a private clinic and a public assistance service.

Methods:

We retrospectively evaluated 6332 individuals (12,664 eyes) between 5 and 25 years old, seen at a private clinic-CEMO (2,663 individuals) and a public service-HOIP (3,669 individuals) from 2008 to 2018. We evaluated the prevalence of myopic eyes (EE ≤-0.50) and high myopic eyes (EE ≤-6.00).

Results:

Sex and services did not show statistical differences. The variation in the prevalence of myopic and high myopic eyes showed a random pattern during the study period (this prevalence could not be increased). Prevalences ranged from 20.7% (in 2017) to 32.4% (in 2015) for myopic eyes and from 1.6% (in 2009 and 2016) to 3.3% (in 2015) for eyes with high myopia. The prevalence of myopia showed a statistically significant increase based on the age group.

Conclusion:

The prevalence of myopic eyes did not increase in our study. The mean prevalence of myopic eyes was similar in the private clinic and public service.

Keywords:
Myopia; Refractive errors; Epidemiology; Prevalence