Abstract
Purpose :
With increasing global prevalence of myopia, investigators are seeking to better understand the role of environmental factors contributing to refractive error. Identifying modifiable behaviors may help to reduce the onset and progression of myopia, and ultimately decrease incidence of associated pathologies and socioeconomic burden. We developed a visual activity survey to quantify behaviors and refractive status. Of recent interest, the survey assesses several aspects of electronic device usage, outdoor time, physical activity, and sleep.
Methods :
The University of Houston (UH) Near work, Environment, Activity, and Refraction (NEAR) survey was administered to adult subjects (n = 117), and includes questions related to demographics, ocular history, daily activities and sleep. For activity and sleep questions, subjects were asked to estimate the number of hours spent in each activity on a 6 point scale from “not at all” to “7 hours or more,” separately for weekdays and weekend days. Daily “diopter hours” were calculated, and time spent outdoors, doing physical activity, using electronic devices, performing near work, and sleeping were compared for non-myopic and myopic subjects using unpaired t-tests.
Results :
Respondents included 30 non-myopes and 87 myopes (by self-report), with an ethnic make-up of Hispanic/Latino (n = 14), and racial background of white (n = 52), black/African American (n = 7), Asian (n = 45) and other (n = 2). Daily diopter hours were not significantly different for non-myopic (27.6±1.9) and myopic (31.2±1.3) subjects (p=0.16). Similarly, there were no differences between non-myopes and myopes for daily hours spent outdoors (3.6±0.5 vs 3.8±0.2, p=0.75), in physical activity (1.9±0.2 vs 2.1±0.2, p=0.49), using electronic devices (10.1±0.6 vs 11.0±0.4, p=0.26), performing near work (10.5±0.7 vs 11.5±0.4, p=0.24), or sleeping (7.0±0.1 vs 7.3±0.3 p=0.58).
Conclusions :
For this population of adults, there were no differences between non-myopic and myopic subjects in diopter hours, time spent outdoors, in physical activity, using electronic devices, performing near work, or sleeping. The survey will be administered in a larger population of adults, as well as children, to quantify potential risk factors for myopia. In combination with objective measures, the UH NEAR survey can help provide a more complete assessment of visual activity.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.