Associations between Poor Vision, Vision-Related Behaviors and Mathematics Achievement in Chinese Students from the CNAEQ-PEH 2015.

Sijia Wang,Yong Yu,Xiao Ma,Yan Wang,Xingjie Hao,Youfa Li,Lili Wu

doi:10.3390/ijerph17228561

Abstract

Purpose: Poor vision is prevalent in school-aged students, especially in East Asia. This can not only cause irreversibly physical health impairments like glaucoma and cataracts, but also the loss of individual education and employment opportunities and deterioration of the quality of life. The present study aims to investigate the associations between poor vision, vision-related risk behaviors, and mathematics achievement in youth from China. Methods: The present study included a total of 106,192 Grade 4 students and 70,236 Grade 8 students from the China National Assessment of Educational Quality-Physical Education & Health 2015 (CNAEQ-PEH 2015). We conducted a standard logarithmic visual acuity scale for vision screening, a self-reported questionnaire for vision-related risk behavior and a standardized mathematics assessment for mathematics performance. Poor vision is defined as the visual acuity below 5.0 by using the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart. Linear regression was conducted. Results: The prevalence rate of poor vision in China was 37.1% in Grade 4 and 66.2% in Grade 8 in 2015. Students who had poor vision were more likely to have better mathematics achievement than those with normal vision. Reading in bed, insufficient sleep, and screen time during weekdays and weekends were associated with higher odds of poor vision. Conclusions: Poor vision was positively associated with mathematics academic achievements, while vision-related risk behaviors such as screen time, homework time and reading in bed were associated with a high prevalence of poor vision in compulsory education cycle students.

Highlights

Poor vision is recognized as an impairment caused by an interaction of genetic and acquired factors
Recent evidence has demonstrated that school-age students are a vulnerable group since refractive errors and myopia are highly prevalent in school-age students [5,6], especially in Asia
The China National Assessment of Education Quality (CNAEQ)-PEH consists of a battery of field tests for physical fitness and health and a specific indicator questionnaire oriented for activity-related healthy lifestyles and relevant health-related habits

Summary

Introduction

Poor vision is recognized as an impairment caused by an interaction of genetic and acquired factors. Poor vision is defined as the visual acuity below 5.0 by using the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart. Poor vision is essentially an impaired sensory system that can quickly develop from slight impairment to a severe one in children [1] and is one of the important causes of preventable blindness in adults. Recent evidence has demonstrated that school-age students are a vulnerable group since refractive errors and myopia are highly prevalent in school-age students [5,6], especially in Asia. The highest prevalence is found in East China, a study in 2004 showed that the prevalence of myopia is Poor vision can be a prolonged and progressive disability in individuals, can have harmful effects on students’ academic performance, education potential, fundamental movement skills, physical fitness, and mental health [2,3], and results in a substantial burden on society [4].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion