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Published in: BMC Ophthalmology 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Prevalence of refractive errors in Tibetan adolescents

Authors: Xuehan Qian, Beihong Liu, Jing Wang, Nan Wei, Xiaoli Qi, Xue Li, Jing Li, Ying Zhang, Ning Hua, Yuxian Ning, Gang Ding, Xu Ma, Binbin Wang

Published in: BMC Ophthalmology | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

The prevalence of adolescent eye disease in remote areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has rarely been reported. To understand the prevalence of common eye diseases in Tibet, we performed ocular-disease screening on students from primary and secondary schools in Tibet, and compared the prevalence to that in the Central China Plain (referred to here as the “plains area”).

Methods

The refractive status of students was evaluated with a Spot™ vision screener. The test was conducted three or fewer times for both eyes of each student and results with best correction were recorded.

Results

A total of 3246 students from primary and secondary schools in the Tibet Naidong district were screened, yielding a refractive error rate of 28.51%, which was significantly lower than that of the plains group (28.51% vs. 56.92%, p < 0.001). In both groups, the prevalence of refractive errors among females was higher than that among males.

Conclusions

We found that Tibetan adolescents had a lower prevalence of refractive errors than did adolescents in the plains area, which may be related to less intensive schooling and greater exposure to sunlight.
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Metadata
Title
Prevalence of refractive errors in Tibetan adolescents
Authors
Xuehan Qian
Beihong Liu
Jing Wang
Nan Wei
Xiaoli Qi
Xue Li
Jing Li
Ying Zhang
Ning Hua
Yuxian Ning
Gang Ding
Xu Ma
Binbin Wang
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Ophthalmology / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2415
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12886-018-0780-8

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