ABSTRACT
Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the association of near work and dim light with myopia among school children in a district in North India. Methods: This study included a total of 1400 children of either sex studying in classes 5?10 in various schools of a district in North India, after taking consent from their guardians. Visual acuity was measured using Snellen’s chart. Myopes were called to our institute where wet retinoscopy was done and spectacles were prescribed. Results: There was a highly statistically significant correlation between myopia and increase in reading hours (P=0.001). There was a statistically significant correlation between myopia and >6hours of using mobile phones /week, more hours spent on using mobile phones correlated with an increased prevalence of myopia (P< 0.01). There was a statistically significant correlation between myopia and increasing hours of playing video games (P<0.01). We found a highly statistically significant positive correlation between the prevalence of myopia and reading in dim light (P=0.0006). Conclusion: There was a positive association between myopia and hours of doing near work. The prevalence of myopia increased with increased hours of doing near work (reading, playing video games and using mobile phones). The study showed a correlation between reading in dim light and myopia. Prevention of myopia may be possible by avoiding these risk factors.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the correlation of parental and childhood myopia among school children aged 5–16 years in North India. Methods: This study included a total of 1400 children aged 5–16 years in a district in North India. Visual acuity was measured using a Snellen’s chart. Children with myopia after retinoscopy were worked up in detail in our institute and a history of parental myopia was taken. Results: A total of 1400 students studying in class 5–10, aged between 5 and 16 years, were screened. A total of 487 students had myopia. Of the 487 myopes, 220 (45.2%) had parental myopia, of which 115 (30.1%) had myopia in both parents, 64 (19.3%) had mothers with myopia, and 41 (13.3%) had fathers with myopia. The prevalence of paternal (P = 0.001) and maternal (P = 0.002) myopia in myopes compared to parental myopia in emmetropes was found to be highly significant. There was a highly significant statistical correlation between maternal myopia and myopia in the child, when compared to the presence of myopia in both the parents (P = 0.007). Conclusion: There was a statistically significant correlation between myopia in the parents and children, which was more significant in the mothers of the children