Association of dailywear of eyeglasses with susceptibility to coronavirus disease 2019 infection

Abstract

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 withmyopia 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 outcomeswere the proportions of dailywearers 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, andmyopia status and the proportion of people withmyopia 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 hadmyopia and included 16 of 276 patients (5.8%; 95%CI, 3.04%-8.55%). The proportion of people withmyopia in Hubei province, based on a previous study, was 31.5%, which was much higher than the proportion of patients with COVID-19 who hadmyopia 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 eyeglassesmay be less susceptible to COVID-19.