Epidemiological study on myopia among primary school students in Xindu District of Chengdu in 2018-2020

AIM: To observe the epidemiological characteristics of myopia among primary school students in Xindu District of Chengdu before and after COVID-19 home isolation period (from Jan.-May 2020). METHODS: Cross-sectional study. A total of 10 153 primary school students from grade 1-6 (age 6-13, three classes per grade) were selected from four primary schools in Xindu District of Chengdu for three consecutive years (2018-2020), by using a random stratified cluster sampling method. All students' visual acuity and spherical equivalent refraction (SE) were measured, a further cycloplegia optometry was conducted for those whose visual acuity was less than 5.0. The SE was recorded and the prevalence of myopia was calculated. Chi-square test was used to compare the difference of prevalence of myopia between different years. One-way Anova was used to compare the difference of SE among different years. RESULTS: There was statistical difference in prevalence of myopia between the three years (2018: 35.98%, 2019: 36.29%, 2020: 42.52%;χ2=39.374, P<0.001). The prevalence of myopia among 6-9 years old students increased significantly in 2020 (P<0.01). They were 2.20 times (6 years old), 2.08 times (7 years old), 1.36 times (8 years old) and 1.24 times (9 years old) of the previous year. Students aged 6-9 years showed an obvious myopic shift in SE in 2020 (P<0.05). The increases were -0.34±0.76D (6 years old), -0.28±0.84D (7 years old), -0.29±1.41D (8 years old) and -0.18±1.35D (9 years old) than the previous year. The prevalence of myopia and SE remained stable among 10-13 years old students in 2018-2020 (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: After the COVID-19 home isolation period, there was a significant myopic shift among students aged 6-9 years old. We should pay more attention to the window period for myopia prevention and control of 6-9 years old.

Lift the veil of rumors: the impact of the characteristics of information sources on the effectiveness of rumors spreading

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impacts of rumors' information characteristics on people's believing and spreading of rumors online. Design/methodology/approach This study employed a mixed-methods approach by combining qualitative and quantitative methods. In study 1, the authors explored different types of rumors and their information source characteristics through qualitative research. In study 2, the authors utilized the findings from study 1 to develop an empirical model to verify the impact of these characteristics on the public's behaviors of believing and spreading rumors by content analysis and quantitative research. Findings The results show that five information source characteristics - credibility, professionalism, attractiveness, mystery and concreteness - influence the spreading effect of different types of rumors. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to rumor spreading research by deepening the theory of information source characteristics and adding to the emerging literature on the COVID-19 pandemic. Practical implications Insights from this research offer important practical implications for policymakers and online-platform operators by highlighting how to suppress the spread of rumors, particularly those associated with COVID-19. Originality/value This research introduces the theory of information source characteristics into the field of rumor spreading and adopts a mixed-methods approach, taking COVID-19 rumors as a typical case, which provides a unique perspective for a deeper understanding of rumor spreading's antecedences.