Dataset Information

Objective and Subjective Behavioral Measures in Myopic and Non-Myopic Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic required a shift to electronic devices for education and entertainment, with children more confined to home, which may affect eye growth and myopia. Our goal was to assess behaviors during COVID-19 in myopic and non-myopic children.

Methods

Parents completed a questionnaire for their children (ages 8.3 ± 2.4 years, n = 53) regarding visual activity in summer 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as during school time and the summer before COVID-19. Children also wore an Actiwatch for 10 days in summer 2020 for objective measures of light exposure, activity, and sleep. Data were analyzed with repeated-measures analysis of variance.

Results

Subjective measures showed that during COVID-19, children exhibited increased electronic device use and decreased activity and time outdoors (P < 0.05 for all), while time spent doing near work was not different than during a typical school or summer session before COVID-19 (P > 0.05). Objective measures during COVID-19 showed that myopic children exhibited lower daily light exposure (P = 0.04) and less activity (P = 0.04) than non-myopic children.

Conclusions

Children demonstrated increased electronic device use and decreased activity and time outdoors during COVID-19, with myopic children exhibiting lower light exposure and activity than non-myopes. Long-term follow-up is needed to understand if these behavioral changes ultimately contribute to myopia progression.

Translational relevance

Children's behaviors changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have implications in eye growth and myopia.

SUBMITTER: Mirhajianmoghadam H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8419879 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate the change of myopic prevalence in students with different demographic characteristics before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Suqian, China.MethodsA retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted. Student data from 52 schools in 2019 and 2020 were collected from the electronic medical records database through cluster sampling. Ophthalmic examinations were conducted on students from September to December in 2019 and 2020. Measurements of uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and noncycloplegic autorefraction were included to obtain the spherical equivalent refraction (SER) and prevalence of myopia. The difference in the rate of myopia and SER of students ages 6 to 18 with various demographic characteristics was compared between the two years.ResultsRecords from 118,479 students in 2019 and the 121,881 students in 2020 were obtained. In 2019 and 2020, the prevalence of overall myopia increased from 43.1% to 48.9% (5.8 percentage point), and a substantial shift in myopic rate occurred in grades 4 to 6 (6.9 percentage point). The change in the prevalence of myopia in girls (5.9 percentage point) was approximately equal to that in boys (5.8 percentage point) and it was more common in rural students (5.9 percentage point) than in urban students (5.1 percentage point). The prevalence of low myopia increased more in children, and the prevalence of moderate myopia increased more in adolescents. The mean spherical equivalent refraction (SER) (-1.34±2.03 D) was lower in 2020 than in 2019 (-1.16±1.92 D), while SER decreased mainly at ages 7 to 15. The SER presented myopic status at the age of 9 (-0.55±1.26 D in 2019, -0.71±1.42 D in 2020), and attained moderate myopia at the age of 15 (-3.06±2.41 D in 2019, -3.22±2.40 D in 2020).ConclusionsAfter the COVID-19 pandemic, myopia increased in this population with variable rates of increase in different demographic groups. The change of myopia in children was comparatively greater than that in adolescents. Therefore, we should take measures to prevent and control the development of myopia after the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for younger students.