Myopia of primary school students in Suqian before and after COVID-19 epidemic / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To compare myopia prevalence among primary school students in Suqian before and after COVID-19 epidemic, so as to provide a reference for prevention and scientific propaganda of myopia.@*Methods@#Mass sampling was conducted for pupils from 39 primary schools in Suqian during 2019-2020 for ophthalmic examination, including measurement of uncorrected visial acuity and noncycloplegic refractometry. The data of 76 823 and 76 039 students aged 6 to 12 years were statistically analyzed, and the differences of myopia prevalence in two years were compared under different demographic characteristics.@*Results@#The myopic rate before and after the epidemic was 30.2% and 36.9%, respectively.The two examinations all obtained that the myopic rate increased with age, the myopic rate of girls (32.3%, 40.0%) was higher than that of boys(28.3%, 34.2%), and the myopic rate of urban students(34.3%, 41.5%) was higher than that of rural students( 26.5 %, 32.2%). The myopic rate increased significantly at all ages, with students aged 9 to 11 accounted for the most(by 8.6 to 10.7 percentage point), the myopic rate by genders and areas increased significantly, among which female and urban students increased the most(7.7, 7.2 percentage point).@*Conclusion@#After the epidemic, the myopic rate was 1.2 times that of 2019. The myopic rate increased significantly under different demographic characteristics.The myopic situation was not optimistic.