History and Objectives: Myopia is the most common refractive disorder with a prevalence of 25% in the world with different etiologic factors including the role of focusing on nearby objects. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between carpet kneading and the incidence of myopia in Birjand in 1994.

Materials and Methods: The cohort strategy of this study was performed on 453 carpet-kneading workers as case group and 100 other ones as control group not involved in this occupation. They were matched regarding age and gender. All of them were examined by an optometrist using retinoscope and autorefractometer and then examined by an ophthalmologist. For statistical analysis, chi-square test was used.

Results: There was an incidence of 29.2% for myopia in case group and 10% in control group (P<0.0005), that is, 2.9 times than that of control ones. Meanwhile, the incidence of myopic astigmatism in case group was 4 times greater than control group (In all age groups). In addition, a significant relationship was found between period of occupation and duration of work in each day and the occurrence of myopia (P<0.001).

Conclusion and Recommendations: Carpet-kneading could lead and/or accelerate the occurrence of myopia and it is recommended to perform more studies more studies in this field.