Abstract:Objective To investigate the prevalence of social anxiety among the fourth-, fifth-and sixth-grade primary school students with myopia in Urumqi, China and the risk factors for social anxiety. Methods Stratified cluster random sampling was used to select 552 fourth-, fifth-and sixth-grade primary school students with myopia from four primary schools in Urumqi. A self-designed questionnaire, a social anxiety scale for children and a self-esteem scale were used to investigate the general demographic data and the current status of social anxiety and self-esteem. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors for social anxiety in primary school students with myopia. Results Of the 552 children, 173 (31.3%) were found to have social anxiety. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a higher grade, female sex, autocratic family, high myopia, low self-esteem and wearing glasses for more than 2 years were risk factors for social anxiety (P < 0.05). Conclusions There is a serious problem of social anxiety among the fourth-, fifth-and sixth-grade primary school students with myopia in Urumqi. The development of social anxiety is associated with age, sex, degree of myopia, time of wearing glasses, parental education style and self-esteem level.