Publication: Digital Eye Strain among Adults Presenting to Tertiary Care Hospital in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study Authors
Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nepal Medical Association
Abstract
Abstract:
Introduction: The Novel Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has sent humanity indoors, replacing human contact with an electronic connection. The mandatory online classes and work from home policy to maintain the social distancing during the pandemic has forced the individual to spend most of the time in front of laptops or mobile screens. Digital eye strain is a group of vision-related symptoms that result from the continuous use of devices with digital displays, such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. The present study is done to find out the prevalence of digital eye strain among the adult population in a tertiary care hospital in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done from January 2021 to July 2021 in a tertiary care hospital of Nepal after receiving ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (Registration number: 077/78/30). Convenience sampling was done. The sample size calculated in our study was 322. Data collection and entry were done in Microsoft Excel, point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data.
Results: The prevalence of digital eye strain was 300 (94.3%) (91.8-96.8 at 95% Confidence Interval) among 318 respondents. Eye strain (irritation, heaviness) was the most common digital eye strain symptom 199 (62.6%) followed by the tiredness of eyes 162 (50.9%).
Conclusions: The present study concluded that the prevalence of digital eye strain in the era of COVID-19 is high as compared to other studies conducted among adults.
Description
Anjila Basnet
Department of Ophthalmology, KIST Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Lalitpur, Nepal
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2647-0169
Samyam Bickram Pathak
Department of Ophthalmology, KIST Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Lalitpur, Nepal
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9085-3135
Anurag Marasini
Department of Ophthalmology, KIST Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Lalitpur, Nepal
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2348-2634
Rohit Pandit
Department of Ophthalmology, KIST Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Lalitpur, Nepal
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2567-3098
Amita Pradhan
Community Dentistry, People's Dental College and Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0363-8627
Keywords
COVID-19, eyestrain, pandemic.