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. 2020 Nov;68(11):2378-2383.
doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2306_20.

Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on digital device-related ocular health

Fayiqa Ahamed Bahkir  1 , Srinivasan Subramanian Grandee  1
Affiliations

Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on digital device-related ocular health

Fayiqa Ahamed Bahkir et al. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose: Since the declaration of the lockdown due to COVID-19, the usage of digital devices has gone up across the globe, resulting in a challenge for the visual systems of all ages. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the lockdown on digital device usage, and consequently, the ocular surface health implications and circadian rhythm abnormalities related to digital eye strain.

Methods: An open online survey was sent through various social media platforms and was open for a period of 2 weeks.

Results: A total of 407 usable responses were obtained; the average age of respondents was 27.4 years. Typically, 93.6% of respondents reported an increase in their screen time since the lockdown was declared. The average increase in digital device usage was calculated at about 4.8 ± 2.8 h per day. The total usage per day was found to be 8.65 ± 3.74 hours. Sleep disturbances have been reported by 62.4% of people. Typically, 95.8% of respondents had experienced at least one symptom related to digital device usage, and 56.5% said that the frequency and intensity of these symptoms increased since the lockdown was declared.

Conclusion: The study highlighted the drastic increase in use of digital devices after the initiation of the COVID-19 lockdown, and along with it, the slow deterioration of ocular health across all age groups. Awareness about prevention of digital eye strain should be stressed, and going forward, measures to bring these adverse effects to a minimum should be explored.

Keywords: COVID-19; Computer vision syndrome; digital eye strain; ocular surface health.

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Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of prelockdown and postlockdown digital device usage in all four subsets of study population
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graph depicting the frequency with which each symptom of digital eye strain was experienced by the study population
Figure 3
Figure 3
Graph showing the proportion of study population according to their total screen time per day after lockdown
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pie chart depicting the (a) frequency of symptoms, and (b) severity of symptoms of digital eye strain experienced by the study population
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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