AUTHOR=Yang Kaili , Gu Yuwei , Xu Liyan , Fan Qi , Zhu Meng , Wang Qing , Yin Shanshan , Zhang Bo , Pang Chenjiu , Ren Shengwei 

TITLE=Distribution of pediatric keratoconus by different age and gender groups

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2022.937246

DOI=10.3389/fped.2022.937246

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Purpose</title><p>To evaluate the distribution of pediatric keratoconus patients and the disease severity based on different age and gender groups in China.</p></sec><sec><title>Materials and methods</title><p>A total of 446 keratoconus eyes in 266 pediatric patients from January 2019 to January 2022 were included in the cross-sectional study. The clinical findings and severity of keratoconus were recorded and Kruskal–Wallis test, chi-squared test, and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel (CMH) test were used to compare the parameters between different gender and age groups.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The male/female ratio was 353/93 (3.8:1), and the median age was 16 years (range: 6–17 years). Male patients were statistically younger than female patients (<italic>P</italic> = 0.041). The male/female ratio decreased with age (<italic>P</italic> for trend = 0.011). The distribution of the topographic keratoconus classification (TKC) stage was significantly different between gender and age groups (all <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05). Male patients had a higher ratio of advanced keratoconus eyes (TKC ≥ 3) than female patients (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001), and CMH analysis indicated that being a male was a risk factor for advanced keratoconus after controlling for age (odds ratio: 2.581, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Male keratoconus patients were younger, with a higher ratio of advanced keratoconus than female patients in the Chinese pediatric patients evaluated. Multicenter studies with larger sample sizes are necessary in the future.</p></sec>