Correlation of parental and childhood myopia in children aged 5–16 years in North India

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the correlation of parental and childhood myopia among school children aged 5–16 years in North India. METHODS: This study included a total of 1400 children aged 5–16 years in a district in North India. Visual acuity was measured using a Snellen’s chart. Children with myopia after retinoscopy were worked up in detail in our institute and a history of parental myopia was taken. RESULTS: A total of 1400 students studying in class 5–10, aged between 5 and 16 years, were screened. A total of 487 students had myopia. Of the 487 myopes, 220 (45.2%) had parental myopia, of which 115 (30.1%) had myopia in both parents, 64 (19.3%) had mothers with myopia, and 41 (13.3%) had fathers with myopia. The prevalence of paternal (P = 0.001) and maternal (P = 0.002) myopia in myopes compared to parental myopia in emmetropes was found to be highly significant. There was a highly significant statistical correlation between maternal myopia and myopia in the child, when compared to the presence of myopia in both the parents (P = 0.007). CONCLUSION: There was a statistically significant correlation between myopia in the parents and children, which was more significant in the mothers of the children.