EFFECT OF PARENTAL MYOPIA ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MYOPIA IN HONG-KONG CHINESE

A representative sample of Hong Kong Chinese children was followed fro m 7 to 12 years of age. Refractive error was measured every year (n = 123 at age 7 years and n = 83 at age 12 years), the axial length of th e eye was measured at age 12 years (n = 81) and the refractive status of the parents was also determined. Thirty-one percent of the parents in the sample were myopic and at the age of 12 years 53% of the childr en were myopic. There was no association between the refractive status of the parents and whether or not a child had myopia. The probability of a 12-year-old child with early-onset myopia having at least one my opic parent was 0.55 and the probability of myopic parents having a my opic child was 0.6. There was no difference in the refractive error or the axial length of 12-year-old children according to whether neither , one or both parents were myopic. The genetic influence on myopia may be different in Caucasian and Chinese children, although it is also p ossible that non-expression of the genotype in the parents may have co nfounded the determination of the inheritance pattern of myopia in Hon g Kong Chinese children. (C) 1998 The College of Optometrists. Publish ed by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.