Factors associated to global myopia prevalence and its social impact

Abstract

Myopia is one the five conditions of the eye whose clinical care has been declared an immediate priority by the World Health Organization. This condition has already reached epidemic proportions worldwide, and its prevalence is expected to continue to increase in the future. Adolescents and young people are the most commonly affected groups. With the purpose of identifying the associated factors, prevalence and social impact of myopia, a search was conducted for articles about the topic published in English and Spanish in the databases PubMed, Infomed, EBSCO, SciELO, PRISMA and UpToDate. The studies retrieved showed that early development of the refractive error will result in a greater probability of suffering from myopia magna and related complications. Multiple factors may lead to the appearance of global myopia. Some of them are totally preventable, since they have to do with behavior patterns and lifestyles. Considering the alarming increase in the occurrence of this condition, it is necessary to devise strategies allowing to contain its appearance and/or progression.

Key words: Myopia; myopia prevalence; risk factors; social impact.