Global disease burden of uncorrected refractive error among adolescents from 1990 to 2019

To estimate the global disease burden of uncorrected refractive error (URE) among adolescents and assess the contributions of various risk factors to disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to URE.

Global, regional and country-level DALY numbers and rates due to URE among adolescents were acquired from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 database. Human Development Index (HDI), Socio-Demographic Index (SDI) and other country-level data were obtained from other open databases as potential indicators. Regression analysis was used to evaluate associations between DALY rates among adolescents and potential predictors.

Global DALYs due to URE among adolescents rose by 8% between 1990 and 2019 but moderately decreased by 4.8% during this period after adjusting for population size. Female adolescents showed higher DALY rates. DALY rates sharply increased from 5 to 9 years of age, then rose more slowly, reaching a plateau before 20 years of age. Country-level DALY rates in 2019 were positively associated with HDI, SDI, and urbanization rates but negatively correlated with primary school dropout rates. Higher disease burden of adolescents visually impaired from URE was associated with lower primary school dropout rates (β = - 0.257, 95% CI - 0.376 to - 0.138, P < 0.001) and higher urbanization rates (β = 0.257, 95% CI 0.067 to 0.256, P = 0.001).

Higher socioeconomic status, urbanization rates and education levels are associated with a heavier disease burden of URE among adolescents. The findings of this study can provide a reference for policy making on resource allocation for URE prevention and control in teenagers.