ESCRS - P105 - DIGITAL EYE STRAIN AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN CHILDREN DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

DIGITAL EYE STRAIN AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN CHILDREN DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Published 2022 - 26th ESCRS Winter Meeting

Reference: P105 | Type: Abstracts | DOI: 10.82333/1sh7-ek74

Authors: Busra Yilmaz Tugan* 1 , Bengi Demirayak 2 , Muge Toprak 3 , Ruken Cinik 4

1Ophthalmology,Kocaeli University,Kocaeli,Türkiye, 2Ophthalmology,Bakırkoy Sadi Konuk Research and Training Hospital,Istanbul,Türkiye, 3Ophthalmology,Gebze Fatih State Hospital,Kocaeli,Türkiye, 4Ophthalmology,Golcuk State Hospital,Kocaeli,Türkiye

Purpose

This study was undertaken to identify the prevelance of symptoms related to the use of display devices and contributing factors in children engaged in distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Setting

An online electronic survey 

Methods

The form was prepared using Google Forms (Alphabet Co., Mountain View, CA) and sent to parents of children under the age of 18 years engaged in distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The types of display devices children use, how often such devices are used, the symptoms of digital eye strain, and the severity and frequency of the symptoms were recorded, and the associations between the factors were analyzed.

Results

A total of 692 participants were included. The mean age of the children was 9.72 ± 3.02 years. The most common display devices used were personal computers (n = 435, 61.7%) for online classes and smartphones (n = 400, 57.8%) for non-academic purposes. The mean duration of display device use was 71.1 ± 36.02 minutes without a break and 7.02 ± 4.55 hours per day. The most common reported symptom was headache (n = 361, 52.2%). Of the participants, 48.2% (n = 332) reported experiencing 3 or more symptoms. The multivariate analysis detected that being female (P = 0.005) and older age (P = 0.001) were independent risk factors for experiencing 3 or more symptoms.

Conclusion

The increasing use of digital devices by children is exacerbating the problem of digital eyestrain in children as a side effect of online learning. Public awareness should be improved.