Abstract
4/2010
vol. 112
Original paper
Reading, writing, working on a computer or watching television, and myopia
- Department of Ophthalmology, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland
Online publish date: 2010/12/22
Purpose: The aim of our study was to investigate on a large population if reading, writing, working on a computer or watching
television might be associated with the occurrence of myopia.
Material and methods: A total of 5865 schoolchildren were examined (2792 boys and 3073 girls, at the age 6-18 years, mean
age 11.9, S.D. 3.3). The examination included retinoscopy under cycloplegia induced with 1% tropicamide. Myopia was defined
as a spherical equivalent of at least -0.50 dioptres. Mean refractive error was -1.2, SD 1.3. (The students and their parents
completed a questionnaire on the child’s visual work. Data analysis was performed using independence chi-squared Pearson
test; p-values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: It was observed that myopia occurs more often in students who read and write >2 hours/ day (p<0.001), and also
work >0.8 hours/ day on a computer (p<0.01). Furthermore, no increase in the prevalence of myopia in subjects who spend
>2 hours/ day watching television was found (p>0.05).
Conclusions: The obtained results indicate that reading, writing, working on a computer might be associated with the occurrence of myopia among schoolchildren. Watching television is not related to the occurrence of myopia.
television might be associated with the occurrence of myopia.
Material and methods: A total of 5865 schoolchildren were examined (2792 boys and 3073 girls, at the age 6-18 years, mean
age 11.9, S.D. 3.3). The examination included retinoscopy under cycloplegia induced with 1% tropicamide. Myopia was defined
as a spherical equivalent of at least -0.50 dioptres. Mean refractive error was -1.2, SD 1.3. (The students and their parents
completed a questionnaire on the child’s visual work. Data analysis was performed using independence chi-squared Pearson
test; p-values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: It was observed that myopia occurs more often in students who read and write >2 hours/ day (p<0.001), and also
work >0.8 hours/ day on a computer (p<0.01). Furthermore, no increase in the prevalence of myopia in subjects who spend
>2 hours/ day watching television was found (p>0.05).
Conclusions: The obtained results indicate that reading, writing, working on a computer might be associated with the occurrence of myopia among schoolchildren. Watching television is not related to the occurrence of myopia.
Integrated with
