Education, reading, and familial tendency as risk factors for myopia in Hong Kong fishermen.
OBJECTIVE
The aim was to assess the influence of childhood reading on the development of myopia after allowance for familial differences in susceptibility.


METHODS
The study was a cross sectional survey.


METHODS
Four fishing harbours in Hong Kong in 1989.


METHODS
Participants were 408 men and women aged 15-39 years old from 159 families.


RESULTS
Histories of school attendance and reading habits in childhood were obtained at interview. Myopia was assessed by retinoscopy. Associations between myopia (defined as a refractive error of at least -1.0D in one or both eyes) and indices of reading in childhood were explored. Myopia was more common in subjects who had attended school (odds ratio = 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-3.0), with the highest risks in those who had started school at the earliest ages and who had spent the most time reading and writing while at primary school. Allowance for familial tendency to myopia produced no diminution in the risks associated with reading.


CONCLUSIONS
These data support the hypothesis that reading in childhood is a cause of short sight.
Wong
L
L
MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, United Kingdom.
Coggon
D
D
Cruddas
M
M
Hwang
C H
CH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005398:Fisheries; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009216:Myopia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D011932:Reading; D012307:Risk Factors; D013690:Television