Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: A study of patients in the Hubei Province, China, at the beginning of the pandemic demonstrated that among a group of 276 patients admitted to a hospital with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, the proportion of patients who said they routinely wore eyeglasses more than 8 hours per day was lower than in the general population. Therefore, wearing eyeglasses more than 8 hours per day may be protective against SARS-CoV-2 infection, possibly because eyeglasses are a barrier that reduces the frequency with which people touch their eyes. The aim of the study was to determine if eyeglasses protect from COVID-19 infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used UK Biobank (UKB) data to corroborate findings of the Hubei study in the UK population. RESULTS: Eyewear was associated with a reduced risk of infection, odds ratio (OR)=0.77. The effects of sex, age, and eyewear were independent and significant at the 95% level. Men are 1.24-times more likely to be infected than women; subjects' risk of infection is less (0.95) for every year of age. CONCLUSION: The public at large may profit from wearing glasses, as well as wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.