Abstract :
Background: The interaction between lifestyle and family history of myopia plays a vital role in the development and progression of myopia. Understanding this interaction is essential to developing holistic treatment approaches.
Clinical Relevance: An environment-genetic score is a measure that combines information about a person's genetic predisposition and environmental factors that may contribute to the development of a specific condition. This score can help optometrists and other eye care professionals make more informed and personalised decisions regarding the management and treatment of myopia.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the ophthalmology outpatient department in Goa, India. Children aged between 7 and 15 years were included. Children with less than 0.1 logMAR visual acuity later underwent objective and subjective refraction. A prevalidated questionnaire was used to assess the environmental impact on myopia. Parental myopia was recorded. An Environmental Genetic Index (EGI) can be created to evaluate the risk of myopia in a given population. The difference between the prevalence of myopia in these families is defined as EGI.
Results: 152 children were evaluated, of which 64 (42.10%) were females. This study included 75 myopes (49.34%) and 77 emmetropes (50.66%). The prevalence of myopia in the myopic family was 85.71%; in the one-sided-myopic family, it was 60%; and in the non-myopic family, it was 45%. The environmental genetic index was 0.4071, suggesting that genetic factors may play a 40.71% role in the formation of myopia and environmental factors may play a 59.29% role in myopia development.
Conclusion: Genetic factors may have played a 40.71% role in the formation of myopia in the studied population. 12.98% of Myopes lived in a flat, usually in a smaller house, without access to the garden compared to 1.33% of emmetropes. A statistically significant difference was seen in the distance near work was performed; myopes tend to hold their targets closer than 30 centimetres.
Keyword :
Myopia, Emmetropes, Environmental genetic index.