SynthesisOphthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists)2022
Regional variations and temporal trends of childhood myopia prevalence in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Refractive Error Centile Curves for Asian and Western Children and Adolescents: An Individual Level Meta-Analysis.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Pooled 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
- A longitudinal analysis of myopia progression and its predictors in a Ghanaian clinical cohort.Frontiers in ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Cross-sectional associations of nighttime sleep and daytime nap duration with myopia in preschool children: the mediating role of body mass index.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Epidemiological investigative report on ocular morbidity in children in rural Kenya.International journal of ophthalmology · 2026Article
- Childhood myopia in the modern environment: modifiable risk factors and evidence-based prevention.International journal of ophthalmology · 2026Review
- Perceptions of Spectacle Use Among Undergraduate Students in Oman: Visual Symptoms, Convenience, and Disadvantages.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Digital technologies in enhancing hierarchical vision health management for the next 1000 days of children's life: multi-component economic evaluation.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2025Article
- The need to address the myopia pandemic: summary report of the global myopia public health summit 2024.Global health research and policy · 2025Article
- Article
- Efficacy of Repeated Low-Level Red Light (RLRL) Therapy in Managing Childhood Myopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Dynamics of Myopia Progression in Ghana-Evidence From Clinical Practice: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of myopia among children and adolescents in Hangzhou.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Refractive Errors, Amplitude of Accommodation, and Myopia Progression in Kazakhstani Medical Students: 5-Year Follow-Up.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Study of myopia progression and risk factors in Hubei children aged 7-10 years using machine learning: a longitudinal cohort.BMC ophthalmology · 2024Article
- Gender Difference of the Association Between Sleep Duration and Myopia Among Children and Adolescents.Nature and science of sleep · 2024Article
- Smart Devices in Optometry: Current and Future Perspectives to Clinical Optometry.Clinical optometry · 2024Review
- The optimal atropine concentration for myopia control in Chinese children: a systematic review and network Meta-analysis.International journal of ophthalmology · 2024Article
- Urban Living Environment and Myopia in Children.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Baseline metrics that may predict future myopia in young children.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo provide contemporary and future estimates of childhood myopia prevalence in Africa.
methodsA systematic online literature search was conducted for articles on childhood (≤18 years) myopia (spherical equivalent [SE] ≤ -0.50D; high myopia: SE ≤ -6.00D) in Africa. Population- or school-based cross-sectional studies published from 1 Jan 2000 to 30 May 2021 were included. Meta-analysis using Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation was performed to estimate the prevalence of childhood myopia and high myopia. Myopia prevalence from subgroup analyses for age groups and settings were used as baseline for generating a prediction model using linear regression.
resultsForty-two studies from 19 (of 54) African countries were included in the meta-analysis (N = 737,859). Overall prevalence of childhood myopia and high myopia were 4.7% (95% CI: 3.3%-6.5%) and 0.6% (95% CI: 0.2%-1.1%), respectively. Estimated prevalence across the African regions was highest in the North (6.8% [95% CI: 4.0%-10.2%]), followed by Southern (6.3% [95% CI: 3.9%-9.1%]), East (4.7% [95% CI: 3.1%-6.7%]) and West (3.5% [95% CI: 1.9%-6.3%]) Africa. Prevalence from 2011 to 2021 was approximately double that from 2000 to 2010 for all studies combined, and between 1.5 and 2.5 times higher for ages 5-11 and 12-18 years, for boys and girls and for urban and rural settings, separately. Childhood myopia prevalence is projected to increase in urban settings and older children to 11.1% and 10.8% by 2030, 14.4% and 14.1% by 2040 and 17.7% and 17.4% by 2050, respectively; marginally higher than projected in the overall population (16.4% by 2050).
conclusionsChildhood myopia prevalence has approximately doubled since 2010, with a further threefold increase predicted by 2050. Given this trajectory and the specific public health challenges in Africa, it is imperative to implement basic myopia prevention programmes, enhance spectacle coverage and ophthalmic services and generate more data to understand the changing myopia epidemiology to mitigate the expanding risk of the African population.
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