Prevalence and genetic predisposition to myopia among medical university students

Background. Myopia is one of the most prevalent eye disorders worldwide and can lead to visual disability in young people of working age. The main contributing factors include socioeconomic status, prolonged visual load, and genetic predisposition. However, the sustained near work associated with the educational process makes this condition particularly relevant among university students, including those in medical programs. Long periods of reading, working with electronic sources, laboratory research, and other academic tasks promote the onset and progression of myopia, requiring timely detection and preventive measures. Purpose: to assess the prevalence, structural characteristics, and hereditary component of myopia among medical university students. Material and methods . A questionnaire-based study was conducted from September 2023 to June 2024 among third- to fifth-year students of Orenburg State Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. A complete enumeration sampling method was used. The total sample size included 407 respondents. The questionnaire was based on the REGINA registry tool for patients with hereditary retinal dystrophies associated with confirmed biallelic mutations in the RPE65 and RLBP1 genes, and was supplemented with questions on place of residence, ethnicity, comorbid conditions, disability status, social background, daily visual load, presence and degree of myopia, disease progression, surgical treatment, and age at diagnosis. Results. Myopia was identified in the majority of respondents (56%), with bilateral involvement in 90.3% of cases. Among them, 53% had low myopia, 36% moderate, and 11% high myopia. Myopia onset occurred between ages 12 and 17 in 55% of cases, and between ages 6 and 11 in 30%. The degree of genetic predisposition was not significantly associated with the age at diagnosis. However, a statistically significant relationship (p = 0.035) was found between the strength of the hereditary component and the degree of myopia, with the highest hereditary contribution observed in individuals with myopia of ≥6.0 D. Conclusion. A link was established between parental inheritance of myopia and the severity of the genetic component, which correlates with the degree of myopia. The strongest hereditary contribution was observed in cases of high myopia.