To explore the association between self-reported myopia prevalence and parental reproductive age in middle school students.

A questionnaire survey was conducted among 1 485 students from 11 junior/senior high schools in Tong’an District, Xiamen through multistage cluster sampling, which was used to collect information on the characteristics of the students and their parents, as well as self-reported vision. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationship between parental reproductive age, parental vision and self-reported myopia prevalence in middle school students.

The self-reported myopia prevalence of middle school students was 80.4%. Among the students whose parental reproductive age was ≥40 years, the self-reported myopia prevalence was higher, which accounted for 84.2% and 83.2%, respectively (P<0.05). After adjusting for covariates, compared with students whose parental reproductive age was <20 years, the middle school students in groups of fathers aged 30-39 years (OR=2.04, 95% CI: 1.02-4.10) and ≥40 years (OR=2.18, 95% CI: 1.04-4.60), and mothers aged 30-39 years (OR=3.41, 95% CI: 1.83-6.36) and ≥40 years (OR=3.44, 95% CI: 1.66-7.12) had a higher risk of self-reported myopia. Among the students whose maternal reproductive age was 30-39 years, the risk of self-reported myopia increased with an increase in paternal reproductive age (P<0.05). When neither parent was myopic, the risk of self-reported myopia among students increased in the groups of fathers aged 30-39 years (OR=3.34, 95% CI: 1.35-8.49), ≥40 years (OR=3.93, 95% CI: 1.48-10.44), and mothers aged 20-29 years (OR=2.70, 95% CI: 1.33-5.49), 30-39 years (OR=3.04, 95% CI: 1.43-6.47), and ≥40 years (OR=3.93,95% CI: 1.63-9.49). When either parent was myopic, the differences in self-reported myopia risk were not statistically significant across different parental reproductive ages.

Advanced parental reproductive age is associated with an increased risk of self-reported myopia among middle school students, particularly in those with both parents being non-myopic. It is necessary to pay more attention to the prevention and control of myopia of middle school students with older parental reproductive age.