An abbreviated assessment of ocular exposure to ultraviolet radiation

Individual behaviour has a very large effect on determining the exposure of the eye to solar radiation. To be able to examine the relationship between ocular exposure to ambient ultraviolet radiation and ocular disease, a model was developed previously that assessed cumulative ocular exposure from individual information on work and leisure activities. In this paper, we present a simplified version of the model that uses data on exposure during the middle of the day (9 a.m. to 3 p.m. solar time) during the northern 'summer' months (April to September). The ocular exposure determined by the simplified model is highly correlated with the full model (r = 0.98) and the simplified model predicts 62% of the total ocular exposure. This model should be useful for future epidemiologic studies of sun exposure and eye disease.