Eye exercises of acupoints: their impact on refractive error and visual symptoms in Chinese urban children

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Yuan Bo Liang⁶  Kenneth J Ciuffreda⁵  Ji Wang³  Qi Wang³  Ning Li Wang⁶  Tie Ying Gao¹  Vishal Jhanji⁴  Balamurali Vasudevan²  Zhong Lin⁶ 

[1] Handan Eye Hospital, Handan, Hebei, China;College of Optometry, Mid Western University, Glendale, AZ, USA;Center for Studies in Constitution Research of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China;Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia;Department of Biological and Vision Sciences, SUNY College of Optometry, New York, NY, USA;Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University; Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Science Key Lab, Beijing, China

关键词: Near vision symptoms;    Ocular fatigue;    Myopia;    Acupoints;    Eye exercises;   

Others  :  1220809
DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-13-306

 received in 2013-01-25, accepted in 2013-10-14,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Traditional Chinese eye exercises of acupoints involve acupoint self-massage. These have been advocated as a compulsory measure to reduce ocular fatigue, as well as to retard the development of myopia, among Chinese school children. This study evaluated the impact of these eye exercises among Chinese urban children.

Methods

409 children (195 males, 47.7%), aged 11.1 ± 3.2 (range 6–17) years, from the Beijing Myopia Progression Study (BMPS) were recruited. All had completed the eye exercise questionnaire, the convergence insufficiency symptom survey (CISS), and a cycloplegic autorefraction. Among these, 395 (96.6%) performed the eye exercises of acupoints. Multiple logistic regressions for myopia and multiple linear regressions for the CISS score (after adjusting for age, gender, average parental refractive error, and time spent doing near work and outdoor activity) for the different items of the eye exercises questionnaire were performed.

Results

Only the univariate odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for “seriousness of attitude” towards performing the eye exercises of acupoints (0.51, 0.33-0.78) showed a protective effect towards myopia. However, none of the odds ratios were significant after adjusting for the confounding factors. The univariate and multiple β coefficients for the CISS score were -2.47 (p = 0.002) and -1.65 (p = 0.039), -3.57 (p = 0.002) and -2.35 (p = 0.042), and -2.40 (p = 0.003) and -2.29 (p = 0.004), for attitude, speed of exercise, and acquaintance with acupoints, respectively, which were all significant.

Conclusions

The traditional Chinese eye exercises of acupoints appeared to have a modest effect on relieving near vision symptoms among Chinese urban children aged 6 to 17 years. However, no remarkable effect on reducing myopia was observed.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Lin et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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