A comparison of measures of reading and intelligence as risk factors for the development of myopia in a UK cohort of children.

Full Abstract

AIM:
Evidence suggests that reading may be an important risk factor for myopia, but recent reports find that performance in non-verbal intelligence tests may be more important or that near-work is not associated with myopia.

METHODS:
Non-cycloplegic autorefraction data were available at the ages of 7 and 10 years from a birth cohort study. Children whose right eye spherical equivalent autorefraction was <or=-1.50 D were categorised as "likely to be myopic." The authors tested associations between school-based Standardised Assesment Tests (SATS) for reading and mathematics, maternal report of child liking reading, the Wescher Objective Reading Dimension (WORD) test results, verbal and non-verbal IQ, and the child being in the "likely to be myopic" group.

RESULTS:
6871 children (59.7% of remaining cohort) had refractive and risk factor data at 7, of whom 1.5% were in the "likely to be myopic" group. Predictors (odds ratios,

OR:
95% CI) of concurrent (at 7) risk for myopia were good performance in the SATS reading (2.60:1.61, 4.19; p<0.001), SATS maths (1.90:
1.19, 3.05; p = 0.008), the WORD (2.72:1.60, 4.64; p = 0.001) and verbal IQ tests (1.99, 1.13, 3.52; p = 0.055) after adjustment for the number of myopic parents (p = 0.014) and ethnicity (p = 0.129). However, the strongest predictor of incident myopia developing between 7 and 10 years was the parental report of whether the child liked reading:
(4.05:1.27, 12.89; p = 0.031), adjusted for parental myopia (p = 0.033) and ethnicity (p = 0.008).

CONCLUSIONS:
Factors associated with reading may play a part in myopia development. Further comparisons of different measures of reading-related activity or verbal ability may help clarify which of the related behavioural characteristics are causally related to myopia prevalence.

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Author information

Author/s: Williams, C (C); Miller, L L (LL); Gazzard, G (G); Saw, S M (SM);

Affiliation: Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. cathy.williams(-atsign-)bristol.ac.uk

Grants: (Agency:United Kingdom Medical Research Council) ; (Agency:United Kingdom Wellcome Trust)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The British journal of ophthalmology (Br J Ophthalmol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Aug; vol 92 (issue 8) : pp 1117-21

Dates: Created 2008/07/25; Completed 2008/08/14;

PMID: 18567647, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data
Child
Educational Status
England - epidemiology
Female
Humans
Intelligence

Longitudinal Studies
Male
Myopia - ethnology; etiology; genetics
Neuropsychological Tests
Reading
Refraction, Ocular
Risk Factors

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