Correlation between refractive parameters distribution and spherical equivalent in children aged 3～17 years

ZENG Ya-wei; WANG Zhi; WANG Ke-yi

doi:10.13820/j.cnki.gdvx.20232963

Abstract：Objective To analyze the distribution of refractive parameters in children aged 3～17 years and their correlation with the spherical equivalent(SE).Methods Children aged 3～17 years attending kindergartens,primary,and secondary schools in our region from December 2022 to April 2023 were selected using a multistage stratified sampling method.Refractive status,corneal curvature radius(CR),and axial length(AL)were measured,and AL/CR was cal-culated.Linear regression models were used to analyze the correlation between AL,CR,AL/CR,and SE.A Forward Lo-gistics regression model was employed to predict SE using a combination of refractive parameters.ROC curves were plotted to assess the predictive value of refractive parameters alone and in combination for SE.Results In this study,a total of 791 children were enrolled,with a detected rate of refractive errors in 85.21％(674 cases),including 104 cases of myo-pia(13.15％)and 570 cases of hyperopia(72.06％).The myopia incidence was highest in the 13～17 age group(25.00％),followed by the 8～12 age group(15.70％),and lowest in the 3～7 age group(8.99％).The differences in refractive status and myopia incidence among different age groups were statistically significant(x2=20.917,P＜0.05).Hyperopia incidence did not significantly differ among age groups.With increasing age,SE values gradually de-creased,while AL and AL/CR values increased.Differences in SE,AL,and AL/CR among different age groups were sta-tistically significant(P＜0.05).Moreover,SE values in the 3～7 age group were higher than those in the 8～12 and 13～17 age groups(P＜0.05).AL and AL/CR values in the 3～7 age group were lower than those in the 8～12 and 13～17 age groups(P＜0.05).Based on refractive power grouping,significant differences were observed in AL and AL/CR among different groups,with statistically significant differences(P＜0.05),while CR levels showed no significant differences(P＞0.05).AL and AL/CR exhibited a significant linear correlation with SE,and their correlation models were SE=-1.6893AL+39.835 and SE=-6.0592AL/CR+17.823,respectively,but CR showed no significant corre-lation with SE.The predictive model for SE using a combination of refractive parameters was Log(P)=3.851-0.726 x AL-0.602 x AL/CR,and it was statistically significant(P＜0.05).The predictive value of the model for myopia and hyperopia in children using a combination of refractive parameters was significantly higher than that of individual indica-tors,and it was statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusion In our region,85.21％of children aged 3～17 years have refractive errors,and the distribution of refractive parameters is significantly correlated with the spherical equivalent.The combined application of refractive parameters can significantly improve the predictive value of refractive errors com-pared to single-parameter predictions.