Nearsightedness in the U.S. is much more common than we thought according to the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and Refractive Error (CLEERE) study, a multicenter, longitudinal, observational, volunteer study of nearly 5000 children aged 5 to 16 years.
The largest percentage of new cases occurred in Asians and the smallest percentage occurred in whites. According to the CLEERE study definition of -0.75 D or more myopia in both principal meridians, 27.3% of new cases occurred in Asian children, 21.4% in Hispanic children, 14.5% in Native American children, 13.9% in African American children, and 11% in white children.
The results were published online on June 11 in the Archives of Ophthalmology.
This reinforces the need for regular eye exams for children starting as soon as 2 years of age.
