Relation between work and myopia in Singapore women

Abstract

Background. Work and related activities may be connected to myopia development and progression. We investigated the relationship between working activities and the onset as well as worsening of myopia. Methods. Information on the working status of the mothers of 374 children, the number of hours of close-up work activity, and whether the mother was short-sighted, was obtained by a face-to-face interview. In addition, a subsample of 84 mothers was interviewed over the telephone and asked whether the myopia occurred in adulthood and, if so, the age of cessation of myopia. Results. The adjusted odds ratio for myopia in working women was 1.9 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2 to 3.2] and the adjusted odds ratio for high myopia (> -6.0 D) was 1.6 (95% CI 0.8 to 3.0). Women who were working also had higher rates of adult- onset myopia, odds ratio 4.4 (95% CI 0.9 to 21.2), and a later age of cessation of myopia than nonworking women. Conclusions. In our study, work was related to myopia in Singapore women. Work may be a surrogate for another risk factor, close-up work activities such as reading, writing, and computer use.