Prevalence of and risk factors for refractive error: a cross-sectional study in Han and Mongolian adults aged 40–80 years in Inner Mongolia, China

Objectives To assess the prevalence of and risk factors for refractive error (RE) in Han and Mongolian adults aged 40–80 years in Inner Mongolia in China and to identify ethnic differences in RE between these populations. Methods Our cross-sectional study is part of the China National Health Survey (CNHS). The age-adjusted prevalence of RE in Han and Mongolian adults aged 40–80 in Inner Mongolia were compared. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors. Results Among 2090 people, the age-adjusted prevalence of myopia (SE < −0.5D), hyperopia (SE > 0.5D), high myopia (SE < −6.0D) and astigmatism (cylinder ≥ 0.5D) were 29.4% (95% confidence interval (CI), 27.4–31.3%), 28.4% (95% CI, 26.4–30.5%), 3.6% (95% CI, 2.8–4.4%) and 65.9% (95% CI, 63.9–67.9%), respectively. The age-adjusted prevalence of myopia in the Han population was higher than that in the Mongolian population (31.8% vs. 23.0%, p < 0.001), but the prevalence of hyperopia was lower (25.8% vs. 35.3%, p = 0.002). In the multivariable logistic regression, ethnicity was associated with myopia ( p = 0.001) and hyperopia ( p = 0.001). Myopia was also associated with age, time spent in rural areas ( p < 0.001) and middle/high school and undergraduate/graduate education levels ( p = 0.027 and p < 0.001, respectively, compared with lower education levels). Additionally, age, height ( p = 0.015) and pterygium ( p = 0.014) were associated with hyperopia. Conclusions Ethnicity is closely related to RE in Inner Mongolia in mainland China. Our study investigates differences in prevalence of and risk factors for RE between the Han and Mongolian populations, which could not be explained by differences in the risk factors investigated in this study.