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Epidemiological investigation of senile high myopia in Shanghai Beixinjing community

Objective　To investigate the prevalence of high myopia，the prevalence and risk factors of high myopia associated with chorioretinopathy in residents aged 60 years or over in Beixinjing community, Shanghai, China.Methods　A cluster stratified random sampling method was used to screen 4153 people aged 60 and over in Beixinjing community. There were 3851participants in total with a 9273% response rate. Participants were invited to complete a questionnaire and received a comprehensive eye examination including visual acuity, refraction, slitlamp microscopic examination, direct ophthalmoscopy and fundus photography and so on. Spherical equivalent (SE) was used to determine the degree of refractive errors. The diagnosis of high myopic chorioretinopathy was made if SEgt;-6.00 D and myopic chorioretinal atrophy lesions were presented such as posterior scleral staphyloma, lacquer cracks, Fuchs spot and myopic arc spots. The degree of visual acuity impairment was determined according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification as low vision (the best corrected visual acuity ge; 0.05, but lt;0.3) or blindness (the best corrected visual acuity lt;0.05).Results　There were 207/3851(5.37%) high myopia patients, in which 183/207 (88.40%) patients were associated with myopic chorioretinopathy. The prevalence of myopic chorioretinopathy decreased while age increased (chi;2=19.21, Plt;0.01), but statistically there was no gender difference （chi;2=1.83, Pgt;0.05）. Logistic regression analysis showed that there were significant differences in the prevalence of high myopia between people with different age, educational levels and family history （chi;2=19.21，32.08，960.68；Plt;0.01）.There were 29 cases of bilateral blindness, 96 cases of unilateral blindness,104 cases of bilateral low vision and 562 cases of unilateral low vision in those participants. In 183 cases of high myopic chorioretinopathy patients, 111（60.65 %）cases had an obvious visual impairment, including 3448% (10 cases) of bilateral blindness, 1146% (11 cases) of unilateral blindness, 2981% (31 cases)of bilateral low vision and 1050% (59 cases) of unilateral low vision.Conclusions　The prevalence of high myopia of residents aged ge;60 years in Beixinjing community, Shanghai,China is relatively high. Age, education level and family history are the most important factors affecting the occurrence of chorioretinopathy in high myopia patients.