4th International e-Conference BMSCON 2023
Correspondence Address :
Dr. B Vishnu Bhat
Adviser-Medical Research, Professor of Paediatrics and Neonatology, AVMC, Pondicherry; Former Director and Dean (Research), JIPMER, Pondicherry, India.
Email id: drvishnubhat@yahoo.com
Introduction: Recent International reports on ocular health shared that diplopia and dry eye are the prevalent ocular disorders caused by overuse of smartphone in young adults. Studies on smartphone usage in young adult’s reports that the smartphone use begins at the age group ranges from 12-18 years old, were the minimum duration of smartphone use per day is 4-6 hours. The association between smartphone use and prevalence of ocular manifestations has recommended the need of health education programs on smartphone use and its ocular impacts. Increasing use of smart devices also can cause acute acquired comitant esotropia in adolescents.
Aim: To investigate the influence of smartphone reading on the ocular surface and to compare the influences of smartphone use on ocular symptoms, status of tear film stability and volume assessment.
Materials and Methods: This is a prospective randomized controlled study on volunteers who continued reading for 2 hours on different smartphone screens. A total of 100 volunteers above 18 years of age without any ocular diseases had participated in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the details of smartphone usage and the visual acuity, tear film stability and volume assessment test and Intraocular pressure (IOP) was taken as some of the parameters in the study.
Results: The continuous use to smartphone causes various problems, headaches, eye dryness, earache, fatigue, and musculoskeletal manifestations. The visual acuity, tear film stability and tear volume and IOP of both right and left eye was analysed and found to be statistically significant among the control and SPVS group. The ocular manifestations are noted and correlated with the duration of usage. The precautions were recommended further from the results of the study.
Conclusion: The prevalence of eye diseases is high in most of the age groups and it is important to educate about the adverse effect of smartphone usage in all categories. The study also suggests about the screen time limitation and usage of smartphones for young adults.
Diplopia, Dry eye,Ocular manifestations, Screen use
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