The incidence of refractive errors among school children in Hong Kong and its relationship with the optical components

This study aims to provide information about the prevalence of refractive errors among Chinese school children in Hong Kong, and its relationship with the optical components of the eye. Subjective refraction, corneal curvatures and ocular biometry were performed on 383 school children from age six to 17 years. The prevalence of myopia increases from 30 per cent at age six to seven to 50 per cent (girls) and 70 per cent (boys) at age 16–17. The mean spherical equivalent refraction gradually changes from plano at age six to seven to ‐2.00 D of myopia at age 1617. Our results are different from Caucasian data but comparable with those of other studies of Chinese in Asia. The increase in myopia correlates well with the axial length of the eye. Further studies are needed to investigate the cause for the development of myopia.