Myopia incidence and lifestyle changes among school children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based prospective study.
Br J Ophthalmol
; 106(12): 1772-1778, 2022 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1338849
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The impacts of social restrictions for COVID-19 on children's vision and lifestyle remain unknown.AIMS:
To investigate myopia incidence, spherical equivalent refraction (SER) and lifestyle changes among schoolchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
Two separate longitudinal cohorts of children aged 6-8 years in Hong Kong were included. The COVID-19 cohort was recruited at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, whereas the pre-COVID-19 cohort was recruited before the COVID-19 pandemic. All children received ocular examinations, and answered a standardised questionnaire relating to their lifestyle, including time spent on outdoor activities and near work, both at baseline and at follow-up visits.RESULTS:
A total of 1793 subjects were recruited, of whom 709 children comprised the COVID-19 cohort with 7.89±2.30 months of follow-up, and 1084 children comprised the pre-COVID-19 cohort with 37.54±3.12 months of follow-up. The overall incidence was 19.44% in the COVID-19 cohort, and 36.57% in pre-COVID-19 cohort. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the change in SER and axial length was -0.50±0.51 D and 0.29±0.35 mm, respectively; the time spent on outdoor activities decreased from 1.27±1.12 to 0.41±0.90 hours/day (p<0.001), while screen time increased from 2.45±2.32 to 6.89±4.42 hours/day (p<0.001).CONCLUSIONS:
We showed a potential increase in myopia incidence, significant decrease in outdoor time and increase in screen time among schoolchildren in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results serve to warn eye care professionals, and also policy makers, educators and parents, that collective efforts are needed to prevent childhood myopia-a potential public health crisis as a result of COVID-19.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Myopia
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Child
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Br J Ophthalmol
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bjophthalmol-2021-319307
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