Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies have suggested that pregnancy may induce myopia progression. However, no longitudinal study with a large sample size and long-term follow-up has assessed this association. Our objective was to investigate whether pregnancy was related to mid- or long-term myopic refraction changes.
Patients and methods
A prospective study was conducted in a Mediterranean cohort. The study included 10 401 women (20–50 years old) from the SUN Project. SUN project is a multipurpose, prospective, and dynamic cohort of university graduates conducted in Spain. The recruitment of participants started in 1999 and it is permanently open. All participants in this cohort had university studies. Participants were followed up for a period of up to 14 years, and pregnancy and refractive changes were assessed through baseline and biennial questionnaires. Pregnancies and myopia were repeatedly assessed in each biennial follow-up questionnaire during a total of 14 years of follow-up.
Results
Pregnancy was inversely associated with the risk of myopia development or progression during each of the 2 years periods, with fully adjusted hazard ratio=0.61; (95% confidence interval=0.49–0.75) after adjusting for known potential confounders.
Conclusion
To our knowledge this is the first large-longitudinal assessment in young adult women, showing that pregnancy is inversely associated with myopia development or progression. Further studies are needed to confirm these epidemiological findings.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the other members of the SUN Group: Alonso A, Balaguer A, Barrio López MT, Basterra-Gortari FJ, Benito Corchón S, Beunza JJ, Carlos Chillerón S, Carmona L, Cervantes S, de Irala Estévez J, de la Fuente Arrillaga C, de la Rosa PA, Delgado Rodríguez M, Donat Vargas CL, Galbete Ciáurriz C, García López M, Gea Sánchez A, Goñi Ochandorena E, Guillén Grima F, Hernández A, Lahortiga F, Llorca J, López del Burgo C, Marí Sanchís A, Martí del Moral A, Martín Calvo N, Martínez JA, Núñez-Córdoba JM, Pimenta AM, Ruiz-Canela M, Ruiz Zambrana A, Sánchez Adán D, Sánchez-Villegas A, Sayón-Orea C, Toledo E, Toledo J, Vázquez Ruiz Z, and Zazpe I. The SUN Project has received funding from the Spanish Government-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (RD 06/0045, CIBER-OBN, Grants PI10/02658, PI10/02293, PI13/00615, PI14/01668, PI14/01798, PI14/01764, and G03/140), the Navarra Regional Government (45/2011, 122/2014), and the University of Navarra.
Author contributions
AF contributed to data research, extracted data, performed data analysis and drafted the manuscript. MB performed data analysis and drafted the manuscript. JM reviewed data analysis, contributed to discussion and revision of the manuscript, and intellectual revision of the manuscript. LM reviewed data analysis, contributed to discussion and revision of the manuscript. MAM contributed to the design, the generation of the database, data analysis and intellectual revision of the manuscript. All of them made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, and approved the final version to be published.
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Fernández-Montero, A., Bes-Rastrollo, M., Moreno-Montañés, J. et al. Effect of pregnancy in myopia progression: the SUN cohort. Eye 31, 1085–1092 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2017.24
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2017.24
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