Healthcare utilization and economic burden of myopia in urban China: A nationwide cost-of-illness study

Yingyan Ma; Yuechun Wen; Hua Zhong; Senlin Lin; Li Liang; Yifang Yang; Huifen Jiang; Jian Chen; Yan Huang; Xiaohua Ying; Serge Resnikoff; Lina Lu; Jianfeng Zhu; Xun Xu; Xiangui He; Haidong Zou

doi:10.7189/jogh.12.11003

Healthcare utilization and economic burden of myopia in urban China: A nationwide cost-of-illness study

J Glob Health. 2022 Mar 19:12:11003. doi: 10.7189/jogh.12.11003. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yingyan Ma^#^{1

2}, Yuechun Wen^#³, Hua Zhong⁴, Senlin Lin^#¹, Li Liang³, Yifang Yang⁴, Huifen Jiang⁵, Jian Chen⁶, Yan Huang⁷, Xiaohua Ying⁸, Serge Resnikoff^{9

10}, Lina Lu^{1

2}, Jianfeng Zhu^{1

2}, Xun Xu^{1

2}, Xiangui He^{1

2}, Haidong Zou^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Preventative Ophthalmology, Shanghai Eye Disease Prevention and Treatment Center, Shanghai Eye Hospital, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, First Affiliation Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China.
⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Yunnan, China.
⁵ Baoshan District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China.
⁶ Huangpu Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China.
⁷ Shanghai Putuo District Dental Clinic & Department of Ophthalmology Clinic, Shanghai, China.
⁸ Department of Health Economics, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁹ Brien Holden Vision Institute, Sydney, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: China contributes to a significant proportion of the myopia in the world. The study aims to investigate the utilization of various correction methods and health service in urban China, and to estimate the cost of myopia treatment and prevention. In addition, we aimed to estimate the cost of productivity loss due to myopia.

Methods: The study was a cross-sectional investigation carried out in urban areas in three provinces located in the east (Shanghai), middle (Anhui) and west part (Yunnan) of China, in 2016. A total of 23819 people aged between 5 to 50 years were included. Health utilization and the cost of myopia were analyzed from patients' perspective.

Results: The total number of people with myopia in the urban China was estimated to be 143.6 million. The correction rate was 89.5%, 92.1%, and 92.7% for Anhui, Shanghai, and Yunnan (χ² = 19.5, P < 0.01). Over the recent year, 20.6%, 16.8%, and 28.8% of myopic subjects visited hospital due to myopia, in Anhui, Shanghai and Yunnan. The annual cost of treatment and prevention of myopia was 10.1 billion US dollar (US$, floating from 9.2 to 11.2 billion US$), and the cost per person was 69US$. The annual cost of loss of productivity was estimated to be 6.7 billion US$ for those with mild to moderate visual impairment (floating from 6.1 to 7.4 billion US$), and 9.4 billion US$ (floating from 8.5 to 10.4 billion US$) for those with severe visual impairment to blindness. Therefore, the total economic burden of myopia was estimated as 173.6 billion CNY (26.3 billion US$).

Conclusions: The present study shows that myopia leads to substantial economic burden in China. The loss of productivity caused by myopia is an important part of the disease burden compared to the cost of correction and treatment paid by individuals. Therefore, the focus of myopia prevention and control should be to decrease the myopia prevalence, and prevent the uncorrected refractive errors and the irreversible damage of visual acuity by high myopia.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Child
Child, Preschool
China / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Financial Stress*
Humans
Middle Aged
Myopia* / epidemiology
Myopia* / therapy
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
Young Adult