Dataset: Myopia and Metal Mixture Exposure

The data for this study were derived from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which was conducted between 2003 and 2008. Operated by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) under the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NHANES employs survey methods, including in-depth interviews and physical examinations, to represent the non-institutionalized adult population of the United States (NHANES Survey Methods and Analytic, 2024). This study, which utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), included a robust sample of 30,619 participants across three cycles: 2003-2004, 2005-2006, and 2007-2008. The 1999-2001 and 2001-2002 cycles were excluded because of missing laboratory data for multiple metals, including barium, beryllium, and cesium.Participants were excluded if they met any of the following criteria: missing urinary metal data (n = 23,013), absence of spherical equivalent (SE) refraction measurements (n = 1,595), history of refractive or cataract surgery (n = 402), hyperopia (n = 707), spherical equivalent (SE) confidence level <5 (n = 5), missing family smoking information (n = 41), and age ≥ 20 years (n = 3228). After applying the exclusion criteria, the final cohort comprised 1,628 participants.