The prevalence of refractive errors in the Middle East: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of refractive errors in the Middle East region.

In this meta-analysis, a structured strategy was applied to search databases PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, databases as well as the reference lists of the selected articles to identify cross-sectional studies assessing the prevalence of refractive errors in the Middle East region until September 2019. The outcome measure was the prevalence of refractive errors, including myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism, in two age groups of ≤ 15 years and > 15 years. The study results were combined using a random effects model at a confidence level of 95%.

The prevalence of myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism was 4% (95% CI 4, 5), 8% (95% CI 6, 10), and 15% (95% CI 10, 19) in people less than or equal to 15 years and 30% (95% CI 25, 34), 21% (95% CI 15, 28), and 24% (95% CI 16, 31) in subjects over 15 years, respectively. The prevalence of myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism was 3.5%, 12.4%, and 9.0% in male and 4.2%, 13.1%, and 9.9% in female subjects aged ≤ 15 years, respectively. In subjects aged > 15 years, the prevalence was 31.7%, 14.5%, and 31.5% in males and 31.9%, 11.2%, and 31% in females, respectively.

The prevalence of hyperopia is relatively high in Middle Eastern children, while the prevalence of myopia is higher in adults in this region. It seems that astigmatism is not a serious refractive problem in this region compared to the rest of the world.