Does digital screen exposure cause dry eye?

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Author Details : Mehak Mufti*, Sheikh Imran Sayeed, Iram Jaan, Saima Nazir

Volume : 6, Issue : 1, Year : 2019

Article Page : 68-72

https://doi.org/10.18231/2394-2126.2019.0017

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Abstract

We get up in the mornings to the bright glow of our phones acting as alarm clock and probably bid good night to the phone screen by checking WhatsApp messages or facebook updates Demands of the modern society put us in front of the digital screens for long hours resulting in many of us having eye strain, fatigue, headache, blurred vision, watering, redness in eyes along with many musculoskeletal complaints like neck pain, back pain, stiffness or pain in wrist etc. These symptoms collectively constitute the computer vision syndrome.
Objective: The aim of the present study was to find the magnitude and severity of dry eye disease amongst young medical graduates who spend good amount of time on the digital screens.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross sectional analytic study which was conducted on 100 undergraduate medical students at the department of Physiology, Government Medical college, Srinagar, after approval from the institutional ethical committee. Informed oral consent was taken from the participants and then a pre validated questionnaire was distributed amongst them. Subsequently Schirmers test was performed on all the participants. Statistical analysis was done using Pearson chi square test.
Result: The prevalence rate of dry eye in the study population is 55.6%. Our results show that increased duration of usage of digital screens increases the risk of dry eye. Eye strain /fatigue was the most common symptom reported by 53 subjects (58.8%) followed by headache (23.3%) followed by blurring of vision. 37% of the students had never heard of dry eye whereas 53% had some knowledge about it. 62% of the students believed that digital screen exposure affects their lifestyle Majority of the students (75%) were willing to reduce their screen time as a preventive measure towards dry eye.
Conclusion: Wearing computer eyewear, looking away from the screen periodically, reducing the brightness of the device, increasing conscious blinking are some of the steps that help protect our eyes from the ill effects of technology.

Keywords: Digital screens, dry eye, Schirmers test.

How to cite : Mufti M, Sayeed S I, Jaan I, Nazir S, Does digital screen exposure cause dry eye?. Indian J Clin Anat Physiol 2019;6(1):68-72

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