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Differences of body height, axial length, and refractive error at different ages in Kumejima study

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Abstract

Purpose

To determine the relationships between the axial length (AL), refractive error (RE), and body height (BH) at different ages of a genetically-stable population in Kumejima, Japan.

Methods

Cross-sectional, population-based study. Residents of Kumejima who were ≥ 40-years old were studied. The eligible residents had a thorough ocular examinations including measurements of the AL, RE, and BH. The subjects were divided into decade groups. The relationships between the AL, the RE, and the BH of the different decades were determined.

Results

Reliable measurements of the AL of the right eyes were obtained from 2198 (1103 men and 1095 women) normal subjects. There was a significant and negative correlation between the age and the BH (r = −0.44, P < 0.001) and the AL (r = −0.27, P < 0.001). There were significant and positive correlations between the BH and AL in all subjects (r = 0.38, P < 0.001). There was a significant and positive correlation between the BH and the AL in all age brackets (r = 0.26~0.49, P < 0.001). There was a significant and positive correlation between the age and RE (spherical equivalent; r = 0.49, P < 0.001). There were significant and negative correlations between the BH and RE in all subjects (r = −0.29, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

The younger individuals tend to be taller, have longer AL, and are more myopic. Considering the marked improvement of the nutritional status during the growth period of each generation and its close association with BH, nutrition may be one of factors that is related to the increase in the prevalence of myopia in the younger generation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professor Duco Hamasaki of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, FL, for providing critical discussions and suggestions to our study and editing of the final manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI grant number JP17591845.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan

    Takehiro Yamashita, Hiroto Terasaki & Taiji Sakamoto

  2. Tajimi Iwase Eye Clinic, Gifu, Japan

    Aiko Iwase

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, University of the Ryukyus Faculty of Medicine, Okinawa, Japan

    Hiroshi Sakai

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, Kanto Central Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Makoto Araie

Authors
  1. Takehiro Yamashita
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  2. Aiko Iwase
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  3. Hiroshi Sakai
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  4. Hiroto Terasaki
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  5. Taiji Sakamoto
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  6. Makoto Araie
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Taiji Sakamoto.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Yamashita, T., Iwase, A., Sakai, H. et al. Differences of body height, axial length, and refractive error at different ages in Kumejima study. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 257, 371–378 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-018-4192-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-018-4192-5

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