Nature or nurture. Effects of parental ametropia on children's refractive errors

Purpose. The aim of this study was to quantify the degree of association between juvenile refraction errors and parental refraction status. Methods. Using a simple questionnaire we conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence and magnitudes of refractive errors and of parental refraction status in a sample (n = 728) of 10- to 18-year-old Austrian grammar school students. Results. Students with myopia or hyperopia were more likely to have ametropic parents and refraction was more myopic in juveniles with one or two parents being ametropic. The prevalence of myopia in children with 2 ametropic parents was 54 %, decreasing to 35 % in pupils with 1 and to 13 % in children with no ametropic parents. The odds ratio for 1 and 2 compared with no ametropic parents was 8.3 and 3.7 for myopia and 1.3 and 1.6 for hyperopia, respectively. Furthermore, the data indicate a stronger influence of the maternal ametropia on children's refractive errors than paternal ametropia. Conclusions. Genetic factors play a significant role in refractive error and may be of dominant influence for school myopia under conditions of low environmental variation.