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. 2021 Mar:223:333-337.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2020.07.034. Epub 2020 Jul 30.

Digital Screen Time During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Risk for a Further Myopia Boom?

Chee Wai Wong  1 , Andrew Tsai  1 , Jost B Jonas  2 , Kyoko Ohno-Matsui  3 , James Chen  4 , Marcus Ang  1 , Daniel Shu Wei Ting  5
Affiliations

Digital Screen Time During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Risk for a Further Myopia Boom?

Chee Wai Wong et al. Am J Ophthalmol. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: To review the impact of increased digital device usage arising from lockdown measures instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic on myopia and to make recommendations for mitigating potential detrimental effects on myopia control.

Design: Perspective.

Methods: We reviewed studies focused on digital device usage, near work, and outdoor time in relation to myopia onset and progression. Public health policies on myopia control, recommendations on screen time, and information pertaining to the impact of COVID-19 on increased digital device use were presented. Recommendations to minimize the impact of the pandemic on myopia onset and progression in children were made.

Results: Increased digital screen time, near work, and limited outdoor activities were found to be associated with the onset and progression of myopia, and could potentially be aggravated during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak period. While school closures may be short-lived, increased access to, adoption of, and dependence on digital devices could have a long-term negative impact on childhood development. Raising awareness among parents, children, and government agencies is key to mitigating myopigenic behaviors that may become entrenched during this period.

Conclusion: While it is important to adopt critical measures to slow or halt the spread of COVID-19, close collaboration between parents, schools, and ministries is necessary to assess and mitigate the long-term collateral impact of COVID-19 on myopia control policies.

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Chee Wai Wong
Chee Wai Wong
Dr Wong Chee Wai is a vitreoretinal surgeon at the Singapore National Eye Centre. He completed a Medical and Surgical Retina fellowship at the Singapore National Eye Centre and a PhD thesis on ocular drug delivery at Utrecht University. His research interests are in retinal diseases, myopia and nanomedicine based ocular drug delivery. He has published more than 60 research articles and holds several research grants in the field of myopia and ocular drug delivery.
Daniel Ting, MD, PhD
Daniel Ting, MD, PhD
Dr Ting is the Consultant Vitreo-Retinal surgeon in the Singapore National Eye Center and an Assistant Professor in Ophthalmology with Duke–National University of Singapore Medical School, Singapore. He is also the visiting Full Professor in Ophthalmology in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Eye Center, ex–Fulbright Scholar to Johns Hopkins University, and the founding member of the American Academy Ophthalmology Artificial Intelligence Taskforce committee. He is the Associate Editor of Nature Digital Medicine, a Section Editor for the British Journal of Ophthalmology, and the Editor of Ophthalmology. To date, he has published >100 peer-reviewed publications, including >40 artificial intelligence/digital innovation articles in JAMA, NEJM, Nature Medicine, Nature BME, and Lancet Digital Health.
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