Myopia Marching On!
Did you know !
Myopia is a common cause of vision impairment globally. Systematic review of 145 Myopia studies, published since 1995 globally, estimates increasing trends between years 2000 and 2050. Analysis included 2.1 million participants.
At present estimates there are 1406 million people with myopia, which accounts for 22.9% of the world population. The data was collected from urban and rural populations in each country. These figures were combined and estimates derived from 2000 and projected through to 2050.
The projection suggests there will be 49.8% of the world population myopic by the year 2050, which translates to 4758 million people. We are looking at half the world population.
This collective analysis shows overwhelming projections. There are strong implications for broadening research into the underlying mechanisms of myopia, and planning for provision of services, as well as dealing with ocular complications.
Source;
Ophthalmology. 2016 May;123(5):1036-42. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.01.006. Epub 2016 Feb 11.Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050.Holden BA1, Fricke TR2, Wilson DA3, Jong M2, Naidoo KS4, Sankaridurg P1, Wong TY5, Naduvilath TJ2, Resnikoff S1.