Prevalence of refractive errors in population aged 50 years and over: The Gilan eye study

Purpose To describe the prevalence of refractive error (RE) and its association with other environmental and health factors among population aged ≥50 years who lived in Gilan, Iran in 2014. Methods In this population-based cross-sectional study, 3281 individuals aged ≥50 years living in Gilan for at least 6 months were enrolled. The prevalence of different types of REs including myopia (spherical equivalent (SE)≤-0.50D), high myopia (SE ≤ -6.00D), hyperopia (SE≥ + 0.50D), high hyperopia (SE≥ + 3.00D), astigmatism (cylinder < -0.50D) and high astigmatism (cylinder < -2.25D) were determined. Anisometropia was defined as the SE difference of ≥1.00D between the two eyes. Associated factors including age, body mass index (BMI) and education were also studied. Results 2587 eligible individuals (58% female subjects) with the mean age of 62.6 ± 8.8 years participated (87.6% response rate). The prevalence of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism was 19.2%, 48.6% and 57.4%, respectively. 3.6% high hyperopia, 0.5% high myopia and 4.5% high astigmatism were identified. The positive simultaneous effects3 of older age (Odds Ratio (OR) = 3.14), nuclear (OR = 1.71) and posterior subcapsular (OR = 1.61) cataracts as well as the negative effects of higher levels of education (OR = 0.28) were obtained on myopia. Higher BMI was found as a risk factor for hyperopia (OR = 1.67), while older patients were less likely to be hyperopic (OR = 0.31). Conclusion Higher incidence of myopia and astigmatism was found in patients aged over 70 years. It was also found that patients at older ages who suffered with cataracts were at a higher risk of myopia, while elderly people with greater BMI were at a higher risk of hyperopia.