Myopia, spectacle wear, and risk of bicycle accidents among rural Chinese secondary school students: the Xichang Pediatric Refractive Error Study report no. 7.
OBJECTIVE
To study the effect of myopia and spectacle wear on bicycle-related injuries in rural Chinese students. Myopia is common among Chinese students but few studies have examined its effect on daily activities.


METHODS
Data on visual acuity, refractive error, current spectacle wear, and history of bicycle use and accidents during the past 3 years were sought from 1891 students undergoing eye examinations in rural Guangdong province.


RESULTS
Refractive and accident data were available for 1539 participants (81.3%), among whom the mean age was 14.6 years, 52.5% were girls, 26.8% wore glasses, and 12.9% had myopia of less than -4 diopters in both eyes. More than 90% relied on bicycles to get to school daily. A total of 2931 accidents were reported by 423 participants, with 68 requiring medical attention. Male sex (odds ratio, 1.55; P < .001) and spectacle wear (odds ratio, 1.38; P = .04) were associated with a higher risk of accident, but habitual visual acuity and myopia were unassociated with the crash risk, after adjusting for age, sex, time spent riding, and risky riding behaviors.


CONCLUSIONS
These results may be consistent with data on motor vehicle accidents implicating peripheral vision (potentially compromised by spectacle wear) more strongly than central visual acuity in mediating crash risk.
Zhang
Mingzhi
M
Joint Shantou International Eye Center of Shantou University and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dongxia North Rd, Shantou, Guangdong 515041, China. zmz@jsiec.org
Congdon
Nathan
N
Li
Liping
L
Song
Yue
Y
Choi
Kai
K
Wang
Yunfei
Y
Zhou
Zhongxia
Z
Liu
Xiaojian
X
Sharma
Abhishek
A
Chen
Weihong
W
Lam
Dennis S C
DS
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005139:Eyeglasses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009216:Myopia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity