Is myopia getting more frequent? A cross-sectional study of 1416 Danes aged 16 years+.

A hospital material considered refractively unselected is made up by adult patients referred for general eye examination from other (non-ophthalmic) departments (n = 1416; 2832 eyes). Thirty per cent of all eyes had negative refractive value. The highest myopia prevalence, about 40%, was seen in the age group 26-45 years. Glass-demanding myopia (of at least -0.75 D) occurred in 14% of the elderly (66 years +) against 27-28% in younger adults. Up to the age of 45, more females were myopic than males. The present prevalences are considerably higher than expected from previous Danish studies. It is discussed to what extent this increase is real. The diabetes of the sample (representing 762 eyes) show a shift towards negative refractive values (37.9% with myopia) as compared to non-diabetics (27.5%). The diabetic surplus is due to low degree myopia cases. The association between myopia and (well-controlled) diabetes seems to be a new observation.