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Daily Wear of Eyeglasses and Susceptibility to COVID-19

JAMA ophthalmology

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TAKE-HOME MESSAGE

• This brief report on a cohort of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in a Chinese hospital shows that a smaller percentage of patients used eyeglasses compared with the general population, suggesting that the use of eyeglasses may be protective against COVID-19.

• The authors hypothesize that wearing eyeglasses minimizes touching of the eyes, thus potentially reducing virus transmission.

– Kathleen F. Freeman, OD, FAAO

Abstract

This abstract is available on the publisher's site.

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IMPORTANCE

The proportion of daily wearers of eyeglasses among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is small, and the association between daily wear of eyeglasses and COVID-19 susceptibility has not been reported.

OBJECTIVE

To study the association between the daily wearing of eyeglasses and the susceptibility to COVID-19.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This cohort study enrolled all inpatients with COVID-19 in Suizhou Zengdu Hospital, Suizhou, China, a designated hospital for COVID-19 treatment in the area, from January 27 to March 13, 2020. COVID-19 was diagnosed according to the fifth edition of Chinese COVID-19 diagnostic guidelines. The proportion of persons with myopia who wore eyeglasses in Hubei province was based on data from a previous study.

EXPOSURES

Daily wearing of eyeglasses for more than 8 hours.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The main outcomes were the proportions of daily wearers of eyeglasses among patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 and among the local population. Data on exposure history, clinical symptoms, underlying diseases, duration of wearing glasses, and myopia status and the proportion of people with myopia who wore eyeglasses in Hubei province were collected. People who wore glasses for more than 8 hours a day were defined as long-term wearers.

RESULTS

A total of 276 patients with COVID-19 were enrolled. Of these, 155 (56.2%) were male, and the median age was 51 (interquartile range, 41-58) years. All those who wore glasses for more than 8 hours a day had myopia and included 16 of 276 patients (5.8%; 95% CI, 3.04%-8.55%). The proportion of people with myopia in Hubei province, based on a previous study, was 31.5%, which was much higher than the proportion of patients with COVID-19 who had myopia in this sample.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this cohort study of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Suizhou, China, the proportion of inpatients with COVID-19 who wore glasses for extended daily periods (>8 h/d) was smaller than that in the general population, suggesting that daily wearers of eyeglasses may be less susceptible to COVID-19.

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