Abstract
We sought to assess light characteristics and user acceptability of a prototype Bright Classroom (BC), designed to prevent children’s myopia by exposing them to light conditions resembling the outdoors. Conditions were measured throughout the school year in the glass-constructed BC, a traditional classroom (TC) and outdoors. Teachers and children completed user questionnaires, and children rated reading comfort at different light intensities. A total of 230 children (mean age 10.2 years, 57.4% boys) and 13 teachers (36.8 years, 15.4% men) completed questionnaires. The median (Inter Quartile Range) light intensity in the BC (2,540 [1,330–4,060] lux) was greater than the TC (477 [245–738] lux, P < 0.001), though less than outdoors (19,500 [8,960–36,000] lux, P < 0.001). A prominent spectral peak at 490–560 nm was present in the BC and outdoors, but less so in the TC. Teachers and children gave higher overall ratings to the BC than TC, and light intensity in the BC in summer and on sunny days (>5,000 lux) was at the upper limit of children’s comfort for reading. In summary, light intensity in the BC exceeds TC, and is at the practical upper limit for routine use. Children and teachers prefer the BC.
Highlights
Refractive error remains the leading cause of visual disability among children in the world today [1]
The Median (Inter Quartile Range, IQR) of light intensity in two traditional classrooms measured during our study, and the 27 classrooms selected from urban and rural Guangdong to provide a broader context, were 1166 (937, 2050) lux and 819 (526, 1,490) lux, respectively
The light intensity was greater on fall/winter cloudy days in the Bright versus traditional classroom, though the difference was not significant (P = 0.056)
Summary
Refractive error remains the leading cause of visual disability among children in the world today [1]. A total of 12.8 million children aged 5–15 years were visually impaired from uncorrected or inadequately corrected refractive errors in 2004, half of them dwelling in China [2]. A novel Bright Classroom designed to prevent myopia devices described in this manuscript. China can reach 50–60% in rural areas [4,5] and 67.3–84.6% in urban [6,7,8,9] settings. Recent population studies have shown that only 15–20% of children who need glasses have them in urban migrant [10] and rural areas [11] of China
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