Effect of Myopia Severity on the Health-Related Quality of Life in Children and Their Parents

Purpose: To investigate the effect of different myopia severity on the health-related quality of life (QOL) in both children and their parents. Methods: Cross-sectional study from October to November, 2021. Age and sex-matched children with binocular emmetropia (-0.5D< spherical equivalence [SE]< 0.5D), low myopia (-5.0D< SE <= -0.5D), and high myopia (SE <= -5.0D), as well as their parents, were enrolled. All children underwent ocular examinations. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Generic Core Scales, Version 4 (child-report, 23 items) and the PedsQL Family Impact Module, Version 2 (parent-report, 36 items) was used for QOL assessment of the children and their parents, respectively. Results: Forty-one, 48 and 45 age- and sex-matched children with their accompanying parents were included in the emmetropia, low myopia and high myopia group, respectively. Parents in the three groups also did not differ in age, sex, or education level. The median total QOL scores were comparable for emmetropic and low myopic children (96.74 [IQR: 93.48-97.83] vs. 96.74 [IQR: 94.57-98.37]) but were significantly lower for high myopic children (88.04 [IQR: 82.61-92.39], both p<.001). A decreasing trend was observed in the median total QOL for parents in the emmetropia (96.53, IQR: 86.81-100), low myopia (82.30, IQR: 70.83-97.22), and high myopia group (70.83, IQR: 60.42-84.03) (p for trend <.001). The effect of per myopic diopter change on QOL was larger in parents than children (coefficient: 1.48 (95%CI: 1.19-1.78) vs. 2.58 [95%CI: 1.83-3.32]), and parents with higher educational level appeared to have more reduction in QOL (p =.008). Conclusions: More severe myopia resulted in a larger QOL decrease in both children and parents. Significantly reduced QOL were identified in children with high myopia and parents of children with any myopia.