Influence of the interaction between parental myopia and poor reading and writing habits on prevalence of myopia in school students in Urumqi, China

Background: To evaluate the prevalence of myopia in school students in Urumqi, China, and explore the influence of the interaction between parental myopia and poor reading and writing habits on myopia to identify the at-risk population and provide evidence to help school students avoid developing myopia.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 6,883 school students aged 7–20 years in Urumqi in December 2019. The Standard Eye Chart and mydriatic optometry were used to determine whether students had myopia. Falconer’s method was used to calculate the heritability of parental myopia. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression models were used to analyze the risk factors for myopia and the additive and multiplicative interaction of parental myopia and poor reading and writing habits.Results After standardizing the age of the 6,883 students, the overall prevalence rate of myopia was 47.50%. The heritability of parental myopia was 66.57% for boys, 67.82% for girls, 65.02% for the Han group, and 52.71% for other ethnicities. There were additive interactions between parental myopia and poor reading and writing habits; among them, parental myopia and poor reading and writing habits (1) (the distance between the eyes and book is less than 30 cm when reading and writing, fingers block the sight of one eye while holding the pen, and leaning one’s body when reading and writing) increased the risk of myopia by 10.99 times (odds ratio [OR]=10.99, 95% confidence interval [CI]=8.33–14.68), parental myopia and poor reading and writing habits (2) (reading while lying down, walking, or in the car) increased the risk of myopia by 5.92 times (OR=5.92, 95% CI=4.84–7.27). There was no multiplicative interaction between parental myopia and poor reading and writing habits (1) or (2) (OR=0.69, 95% CI=0.44–1.08; OR=0.89, 95% CI=0.66–1.21, respectively).Conclusion The prevalence of myopia among students in Urumqi, Xinjiang is relatively high. The risk of developing myopia is affected by parental myopia and poor reading and writing habits. In addition, parental myopia amplifies the harm caused by poor reading and writing habits, thereby increasing the risk of myopia. Students with parents who have myopia should be targeted during myopia prevention efforts.