Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep 19:14:159-172.
doi: 10.2147/OPTO.S374837. eCollection 2022.

Self-Reported Student Awareness and Prevalence of Computer Vision Syndrome During COVID-19 Pandemic at Al-Baha University

Saleha K Alatawi  1 , Kareem Allinjawi  2 , Khaled Alzahrani  3 , Naglaa K Hussien  4 , Mahadi Bashir  5 , Eman N Ramadan  6
Affiliations

Self-Reported Student Awareness and Prevalence of Computer Vision Syndrome During COVID-19 Pandemic at Al-Baha University

Saleha K Alatawi et al. Clin Optom (Auckl). .

Abstract

Background: The rapid increase increased, in using of video display terminals during the COVID-19 pandemic predisposes users to a variety of health problems restricted to visual problems and including various musculoskeletal problems, collectively known as computer vision syndrome (CVS) or computer vision syndrome.

Aim: This study aims to ascertain university students' awareness of computer vision syndrome at Al-Baha University, including the nature, sources, accuracy, and completeness of information, as well as the attitudes towards CVS, and mitigative practices.

Methods: This study used a descriptive cross-sectional design and a convenient sample of 310 (80.0% male) students drawn from Al Baha University campuses. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 23.51 years (SD=5.42). The results show that 78.7%, 66.1%, and 11.6% received CVS information from social media, mass media, and family, respectfully. Despite 70% of respondents being aware of CVS manifestations, between 42% to 67% of those sampled had accurate and complete information about the meaning, causes, prevention, and management of the syndrome. More than a third of the participants had either a good (62.9%) or average (29%) total knowledge of CVS. Less than 15% had incorrect information. On average, 62.5% of respondents engaged in preventive or mitigative behaviours/activities as opposed to 37.5% who did not, but only 44% believed CVS was a serious health threat. 65.2% of the studied students had a satisfactory total practice score. The regression analysis showed that the coefficients of marital status and faculty were a statistically significant association with the total knowledge score.

Conclusion: CVS awareness is acceptably high, but there is a low preventive/mitigative behaviors as well as a low realization of CVS' long-term health problems. This is why increasing CVS awareness and implementing interventions such as the 20-20-20 rule could be effective at Al Baha University.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; awareness; computer vision syndrome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage distribution of studied students regarding their faculty (n=310).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage distribution of studied students regarding their source of information computer vision syndrome (n=310).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organisation. Numbers at a glance; 2021. Avaiable from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus–2019. Accessed July 25, 2022.
    1. Viner RM, Russell SJ, Croker H, et al. School closure and management practices during coronavirus outbreaks including COVID-19: a rapid systematic review. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2020;4(5):397–404. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30095-X - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. UNESCO. COVID-19 impact on education; 2021. Avaiable from: vhttps://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse#schoolclosures. Accessed July 25, 2022.
    1. Reddy SC, Low C, Lim Y, Low L, Mardina F, Nursaleha M. Computer vision syndrome: a study of knowledge and practices in university students. Nepal J Ophthalmol. 2013;5(2):161–168. doi: 10.3126/nepjoph.v5i2.8707 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mohan A, Sen P, Shah C, Jain E, Jain S. Prevalence and risk factor assessment of digital eye strain among children using online e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: digital eye strain among kids (DESK study-1). Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021;69(1):140. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2535_20 - DOI - PMC - PubMed