Question: I thought this headline was a joke, “Does Wearing Glasses Protect You From Coronavirus?” Is there anything to it?

Answer: Ha! I was just reading that study, which was published in JAMA Ophthalmology earlier this week. Basically, the study authors were curious to know whether they could find an association between wearing eyeglasses (at least 8 hours/day) and COVID-19 infection risk, with the hypothesis being that because the eye may be an important route of COVID infection, people who wear glasses may have less exposure to the virus, and therefore less COVID-19 disease incidence. To test their hypothesis, study authors took a look at data from a group of 271 hospitalized patients in Suizhou, China and compared the proportion of eyeglass wearers among those hospitalized with the proportion of eyeglass wearers in the local population. As it turns out, the proportion of eyeglass wearers among those hospitalized was much lower than the general population. Study authors were quick not to draw conclusions about any causal relationship — and rightly so (this study is WEAK!) — instead focusing their conclusions on the need to pay more attention to the possible role of the eye in COVID-19 infection and prevention. I’m down with that conclusion, so in that respect there’s a bit of a “there there” to this study.

That said, I was also a bit surprised that this research brief was published since it is some very weak science. Perhaps the editorial board was ginger about it too, publishing alongside the study an invited commentary that dives further into the study’s limitations, concluding “The study by Zeng et al is provocative and raises the possibility that use of eye protection by the general public might offer some degree of protection from COVID-19. More retrospective and prospective studies are needed to confirm the association that was observed in this study and to determine whether there is any incremental benefit to wearing eyeglasses or other forms of eye protection in public settings, in addition to wearing a mask and physical distancing, to reduce the risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2.” [Note: For more on COVID and eyes, see Q&A of 7/19 #Face Shields and Q&A of 4/4 #Eyeglasses]