The role of reading, writing, using a computer, or watching television in the development of myopia

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The purpose of our investigation was to evaluate in a Polish population the role of reading, writing, using a computer, or watching television in the development of myopia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. In total 5601 students (2688 boys and 2913 girls, 6–18 years of age, mean 11.9 + 3.2 years) were examined. The children examined were Polish students of elementary and secondary schools. In every student cycloplegia after 1% tropicamide was performed. Non-parametric tests were used due to the SE distribution being significantly different from normal distribution in Kolmogorow-Smirnov test. Spearman rank correlation coefficient (Rs) was used to evaluate the strength of correlation between these variables. General linear model was used for multivariate analysis. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS. It has been established that with the increase in time spent on reading and writing, the spherical equivalent (SE) of the examined students decreases (Rs = –0.16, p < 0.000001). It was observed that an increase in the time spent working on a computer correlates with the decrease of the SE (Rs = –0.11, p < 0.000001). No relationship between watching television and the spherical equivalent of the examined schoolchildren was found (Rs = +0.01, p = 0.31).

CONCLUSIONS. Reading, writing, or using a computer may lead to the development of myopia. Watching television has no influence on the incidence of myopia.