Abstract
Purpose :
Lifestyle factors such as time outdoors and time spent in education have been shown to be associated with increased myopia, however most studies have investigated these in under 18-year-olds. This study aimed to investigate whether lifestyle factors were associated with the presence of myopia within a student cohort of young adults
Methods :
Young adults aged between 18-25 years in higher education with a prescription of <+0.75DS spherical equivalent refraction (SER) were enrolled into a prospective study. Measures of non-cycloplegic open-field autorefraction (NVision-K 5001, Shin Nippon: Japan) were taken five times, and averaged to obtain a mean SER, with myopia defined as an SER ≤-0.50D. Self-reported questionnaires were undertaken asking participants for their estimated time spent outdoors, performing physical activity, using a screen, and studying over a typical day in the last week, in hours. Chi-squared tests were performed for all lifestyle measures to determine if they were different between myopes and non-myopes. SER was regressed against the lifestyle measures in a multivariable linear regression model. A P-value threshold of < 0.05 was used to assess significance
Results :
Full data was available for 141 young adults. Participants had a median age of 20.1 years (Interquartile range (IQR) 19.2-21.1 years), with 67% being female, and a majority South Asian ethnicity (86%). Median SER was -0.73D (IQR -2.07D to -0.02D), with 56% of the sample being myopic. Chi-squared tests for time spent performing physical activity, spent outdoors, and spent using a screen were not statistically different for myopes vs non-myopes (P>0.61 for all). Time spent studying was greater in myopes than non-myopes (Chi. Sq. Value=21.5, P=0.048). Multivariable linear regression for SER estimated coefficients for physical activity (0.37, P=0.06), time outdoors (-0.12, P=0.19), and time spent on a screen (-0.10, P=0.2) were not significant. However a coefficient of -0.17 achieved significance (P=0.040) for time spent studying when regressed for SER. The adjusted R2 value of the multivaraible model was 6%
Conclusions :
Self-reported time spent studying appears to be associated with the presence of myopia, and a more myopic SER in young adult students. Nevertheless, self-reported lifestyle factors appear to account for a small amount of the variance of refractive errors in this study sample.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.