The Consequences of Myopia: Impact on Individuals and Society

Uncorrected myopia can pose a significant challenge to children and affected individuals in everyday life. Simple tasks such as reading signs, recognizing people, reading words on boards in classroom etc. can become difficult. Participating in sports or driving with uncorrected myopia can be a safety issue. Objects in the distance may appear blurry and it might be difficult to judge distances accurately. These challenges are likely to affect a person’s productivity in their environment.

The impact of either uncorrected or corrected myopia on quality of life is typically evaluated using qualitative and/or quantitative measures, such as questionnaires containing items on symptoms, limitations of activity, emotional and social impact, inconvenience etc.²  Evidence suggests that myopia involves restrictions on everyday activities, economic, emotional and social well-being.³ Overall the more severe the myopia, the greater the likelihood of having a poorer quality of life.³ For example, those who suffer from high myopia may have concerns related to the appearance of their spectacle lenses and might have financial impact related to the need for specialized lenses such as lighter and thinner lenses that cost more.²  On a positive note, appropriate management of myopia is likely to improve quality of life⁴  across certain domains.
 

All levels (low, moderate or high) of myopia are associated with a risk of developing ocular complications that may be sight-threatening, with the risk increasing for higher levels of myopia. While some complications can occur at any age (for example, retinal detachment), myopia predisposes the eye to develop certain other complications in later adult life (for example, myopic macular degeneration). Each additional diopter is associated with an increase in risk of +58 percent for myopic macular degeneration, +20 percent for open-angle glaucoma, +21 percent for posterior subcapsular cataract and +30 percent for retinal detachment.¹¹ These statistics underscore the importance of starting myopia management early to mitigate or reduce the risk of developing serious complications.

For obvious reasons, uncorrected myopia or poor vision in general may affect the academic performance of children with possible consequences into their future, including their career. Scholastic performance was found to play a role with evidence suggesting a connection between educational achievements and the health in later adult life.⁵

Uncorrected visual deficits may affect attention, perseverance, and academic performance. When corrected with spectacles, an improvement in academic performance and psychosocial wellbeing of students was seen.⁶ Interestingly, although spectacles are a common and widespread means of vision correction, in some situations, there can be persistent negative stereotypes associated with wearing spectacles resulting in poor compliance. There are additional barriers that influence whether a child receives and consistently wears spectacles, such as access to vision care, costs, as well as parental education.⁷ These factors need to be considered in optometric and ophthalmic practice and any resentment towards vision correction resolved with sensitive measures.

It is expected that the burden of myopia and high myopia will rise due to the growing prevalence of myopia.² At the societal level, managing myopia has a positive impact on productivity. Importantly the costs associated with correcting and controlling myopia progression are lower than the overall gains in productivity.¹⁰

Thus, when it comes to practicing myopia management, prevention where possible and if not early detection and approaches to slow progression are the key to reducing the impact of myopia. Lower levels of myopia reduce the risk of costs associated with managing the condition (for example, less need for frequent follow-ups, device costs etc) and reduce the risk of eye complications.

Education on the positive effects of minimizing excessive near work and spending more time outdoors is a key element in myopia management. For those that are already myopic, guidelines can be followed for appropriate management. Single vision devices correct vision but do not slow progression of myopia and therefore, providing one or more strategies that slow progression is useful. It is also important to have an open discussion to dispel reservations related to certain treatments, solutions, costs, future health implications etc.