Prevalence of myopic eyes in private practice and public care services in Brazil: 11 years of retrospective analysis.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the prevalence of myopic eyes over 11 years (2008-2018) in a private clinic and a public assistance service.

METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated 6332 individuals (12,664 eyes) between 5 and 25 years old, seen at a private clinic-CEMO (2,663 individuals) and a public service-HOIP (3,669 individuals) from 2008 to 2018. We evaluated the prevalence of myopic eyes (EE ≤-0.50) and high myopic eyes (EE ≤-6.00).

RESULTS

Sex and services did not show statistical differences. The variation in the prevalence of myopic and high myopic eyes showed a random pattern during the study period (this prevalence could not be increased). Prevalences ranged from 20.7% (in 2017) to 32.4% (in 2015) for myopic eyes and from 1.6% (in 2009 and 2016) to 3.3% (in 2015) for eyes with high myopia. The prevalence of myopia showed a statistically significant increase based on the age group.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of myopic eyes did not increase in our study. The mean prevalence of myopic eyes was similar in the private clinic and public service.