Analysis of the spatio-temporal evolutionary characteristics of myopia among students aged 7–18 years in China: based on panel data analysis

Myopia is a major important public health concern and has huge burden on health system across the world. This study aimed to explore the spatial and temporal analysis of the prevalence of myopia among students aged 7-18 years to identify the potential clusters and the trends of myopia in China. Spatial autocorrelation analysis, temporal and spatial scan analysis and beta convergence test were performed using ArcGIS10.0 and Stata 15.0. The present study indicated that the prevalence of myopia among students aged 7-18 years in China increased every five years from 1995 to 2019, and there was a certain spatial clustering. The phased spatiotemporal scanning analysis indicated that the gathering area of myopia in students aged 7-18 years in China first shifted from northwest to southeast, and the gradually shifted to Hebei, Shanxi and other northern China regions with Tianjin as the core, and finally spread to the whole of East China, where high-risk areas regarding myopia continue to exist. At the same time, the difference in the level of myopia in each region will gradually shrink over time and will converge. There is a great deal of spatial variations in the pattern of the prevalence of myopia among children and adolescents in China. The spatial cluster analysis provides new evidence for policy-makers to design tailored interventions to reduce the prevalence of myopia and allocate health resource to unmet need areas.