SynthesisOphthalmology2015
Increasing Prevalence of Myopia in Europe and the Impact of Education.
Synthesis in Ophthalmology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 245 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
245 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 480 citations in OpenAlex.
- Analysing myopia in Europe: A comprehensive meta-analysis.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2026Pooled it
- Proteome-wide Mendelian randomisation identifies causal links between blood proteins and myopia.Journal of global health · 2026Pooled it
- Myopia prevalence in Malaysian children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Refractive Error Centile Curves for Asian and Western Children and Adolescents: An Individual Level Meta-Analysis.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of spectacle lenses specifically designed for myopia control: systematic review and meta-analysis.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2025Pooled it
- Association of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep and myopia in children and adolescents: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Conjunctival ultraviolet autofluorescence as a biomarker of outdoor exposure in myopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- Myopia and Near Work: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Regional variations and temporal trends of childhood myopia prevalence in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2022Pooled it
- The G allele of the IGF1 rs2162679 SNP is a potential protective factor for any myopia: Updated systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of 542,934 subjects of European ancestry identifies new genes and mechanisms predisposing to refractive error and myopia.Nature genetics · 2020Pooled it
- Low concentration atropine eye drops and progression of myopia in children: multicentre placebo controlled, double masked, randomised trial in the UK (CHAMP-UK).BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2026Trial
- Prevention of myopia shift and myopia onset using 0.01% atropine in premyopic children - a prospective, randomized, double-masked, and crossover trial.European journal of pediatrics · 2023Trial
- A multicenter Spanish study of atropine 0.01% in childhood myopia progression.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness in myopic children with 0.01% atropine, orthokeratology, or their combination.International ophthalmology · 2021Trial
- Additive effect of atropine eye drops and short-term retinal defocus on choroidal thickness in children with myopia.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Efficacy of combined orthokeratology and 0.01% atropine solution for slowing axial elongation in children with myopia: a 2-year randomised trial.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Prevalence and Possible Factors of Myopia in Norwegian Adolescents.Scientific reports · 2018Trial
- Prevalence of myopia and myopia trends among optometric telemedicine users in Spain: a retrospective nationwide observational study.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2026Article
- Exploring Characteristics and Systemic Health Links in Myopic Australian Adults.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026Article
185 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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- Commented on byReply.2016
Authors and funding
35 authors at 18 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeTo investigate whether myopia is becoming more common across Europe and explore whether increasing education levels, an important environmental risk factor for myopia, might explain any temporal trend.
designMeta-analysis of population-based, cross-sectional studies from the European Eye Epidemiology (E(3)) Consortium.
participantsThe E(3) Consortium is a collaborative network of epidemiological studies of common eye diseases in adults across Europe. Refractive data were available for 61 946 participants from 15 population-based studies performed between 1990 and 2013; participants had a range of median ages from 44 to 78 years.
methodsNoncycloplegic refraction, year of birth, and highest educational level achieved were obtained for all participants. Myopia was defined as a mean spherical equivalent ≤-0.75 diopters. A random-effects meta-analysis of age-specific myopia prevalence was performed, with sequential analyses stratified by year of birth and highest level of educational attainment.
main outcome measuresVariation in age-specific myopia prevalence for differing years of birth and educational level.
resultsThere was a significant cohort effect for increasing myopia prevalence across more recent birth decades; age-standardized myopia prevalence increased from 17.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 17.6-18.1) to 23.5% (95% CI, 23.2-23.7) in those born between 1910 and 1939 compared with 1940 and 1979 (P = 0.03). Education was significantly associated with myopia; for those completing primary, secondary, and higher education, the age-standardized prevalences were 25.4% (CI, 25.0-25.8), 29.1% (CI, 28.8-29.5), and 36.6% (CI, 36.1-37.2), respectively. Although more recent birth cohorts were more educated, this did not fully explain the cohort effect. Compared with the reference risk of participants born in the 1920s with only primary education, higher education or being born in the 1960s doubled the myopia prevalence ratio-2.43 (CI, 1.26-4.17) and 2.62 (CI, 1.31-5.00), respectively-whereas individuals born in the 1960s and completing higher education had approximately 4 times the reference risk: a prevalence ratio of 3.76 (CI, 2.21-6.57).
conclusionsMyopia is becoming more common in Europe; although education levels have increased and are associated with myopia, higher education seems to be an additive rather than explanatory factor. Increasing levels of myopia carry significant clinical and economic implications, with more people at risk of the sight-threatening complications associated with high myopia.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.