Myopia Prevalence and its Correlation with Demographic Characteristics Before the COVID-19 Pandemic among Acehnese School Children (6-19 years) in Indonesia

The prevalence of myopia in school-age children has increased dramatically year by year. Myopia is an impact on academic achievement, and blindness, and increases the economic burden. The research objective was to analyze the prevalence of myopia and its relationship with demographic characteristics (age and gender) in school-age children. This study was a cross-sectional design. The respondents were male (M), female (F), and school-age children (aged 6-19 years). The total subjects were 1171 school students, Elementary Schools (n=661; M=326, F=335), Junior High Schools (n=307; M=138, F=169), and High Schools (n=203; M=84, F=119). Data analysis was descriptive and chi-square tests (p<0.05). We found that the prevalence of myopia in school-age children was 14.61%. The highest rate of myopia is at the age of 19 years, girls (15.73%) more than boys (13.32%), in the late adolescent group (23.53%) more than the early adolescent group (18.75%), and childhood age (9.32%). Myopia in high school-age children (23.15%) was more than in junior high school students (20.85%), and elementary school students (9.07%). There was a relationship between age (p<0.001*), age group (p<0.001*), and school level (p<0.001*), but otherwise, there was no association between gender (p=0.24) with myopia in school-age children. In conclusion: myopia prevalence is highest at the age of 19 years, a group of late teens, high school, and females more than males. Myopia is associated with age among Acehnese school children (6-19 years) in Indonesian, so that’s why we recommend performing visual acuity tests routinely.