Adolescents with high myopia experience lower quality of life

High myopia significantly impacts the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of adolescents, particularly affecting the physical and psychological well-being of girls, according to a study.

This finding underscores the importance of incorporating HRQoL assessments into the routine diagnostic process for adolescents with high myopia to determine appropriate interventions.

In this study, 69 adolescents with high myopia and 71 healthy participants aged 12-17 years, along with their parents or legal guardians, completed the KIDSCREEN-27 questionnaire.

The findings revealed that adolescents with high myopia scored significantly lower on the Physical Well-Being dimension than their healthy counterparts (P = 0.003). This disparity was especially pronounced in girls with high myopia when compared to girls in the control group (P = 0.008) and in adolescents aged 15-17 years compared to their peers without high myopia (P = 0.020). In addition, girls with high myopia had significantly poorer scores on the Psychological Well-Being dimension than boys with high myopia (P < 0.042).

The study found that sociodemographic factors, the severity of refractive error, its duration, and acceptance of the disease did not impact HRQoL.

Reference
Zawistowska J, Powierza K, Sawicka-Powierza J, et al. Health-Related Quality of Life Using the KIDSCREEN-27 Questionnaire among Adolescents with High Myopia. J Clin Med. 2024;13(13):3676. doi: 10.3390/jcm13133676. PMID: 38999242; PMCID: PMC11242397.