Bener Abdulbari, Al-Mahdi Huda S
Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Hamad General Hospital, Qatar; Department Evidence for Population Health Unit, School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, UK; Departments of Public Health and Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar.
Department of Ophthalmology, Rumailah and Hamad General Hospitals, Hamad Medical Corporation , Qatar.
J Public Health Afr. 2012 May 30;3(1):e16. doi: 10.4081/jphia.2012.e16. eCollection 2012 Mar 7.
Little is known about the distribution of eye and vision conditions among school children in Qatar. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of excessive internet use and television viewing on low vision and its prevalence with socio-demographic characteristics. This is a cross-sectional study which was carried out in the public and private schools of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of the State of Qatar from September 2009 to April 2010. A total of 3200 students aged 6-18 years were invited to take part of whom 2586 (80.8%) agreed. A questionnaire, that included questions about socio-demographic factors, internet use, and television viewing and computer games, co-morbid factors, and family history and vision assessment, was designed to collect information from the students. This was distributed by the school authorities. Of the school children studied (n=2586), 52.8% were girls and 47.2% boys. The overall prevalence of low vision was 15.2%. The prevalence of low vision was significantly higher in the age group 6-10 years (17.1%; P=0.05). Low vision was more prevalent among television viewers (17.2%) than in infrequent viewers (14.0%). The proportion of children wearing glasses was higher in frequent internet users and television viewers (21.3%). Also, low vision without aid was higher in frequent viewers. The study findings revealed a greater prevalence of low vision among frequent internet users and television viewers. The proportion of children wearing glasses was higher among frequent viewers. The prevalence of low vision decreased with increasing age.
关于卡塔尔学童眼部及视力状况的分布情况，人们知之甚少。本研究的目的是探讨过度使用互联网和看电视对视力低下及其患病率与社会人口学特征之间的影响。这是一项横断面研究，于2009年9月至2010年4月在卡塔尔国教育和高等教育部的公立和私立学校开展。共邀请了3200名6至18岁的学生参与，其中2586名（80.8%）同意参加。设计了一份问卷，包括有关社会人口学因素、互联网使用、看电视和玩电脑游戏、共病因素、家族史以及视力评估等问题，旨在从学生那里收集信息。问卷由学校当局发放。在接受研究的学童中（n = 2586），女生占52.8%，男生占47.2%。视力低下的总体患病率为15.2%。6至10岁年龄组的视力低下患病率显著更高（17.1%；P = 0.05）。看电视的人（17.2%）中视力低下的患病率高于不常看电视的人（14.0%）。经常使用互联网和看电视的儿童中戴眼镜的比例更高（21.3%）。此外，经常看电视的人中未经矫正视力低下的情况更多。研究结果显示，经常使用互联网和看电视的人当中视力低下的患病率更高。经常看电视的儿童中戴眼镜的比例更高。视力低下的患病率随着年龄的增长而降低。
