Assessment of Visual Fatigue While Watching Digital Screens

Aim: To correlate visual fatigue such as eye tiredness and headache with the use of digital screens. Study design: Observational Study Duration and Setting of the Study: Department of Ophthalmology, Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex, Nowshera from 1 Jan 2022 to 31 Dec 2022. Methods: A total of 101 general population data was collected. All patients were inquired about using screens at different distances, brightness, exposure time, and by using spectacles or screens with or without filters. Their records were analysed for fatigue caused due to watching screens. Data was entered and analysed for simple percentages using SPSS version 25.0. Results: Smartphone was used mostly with 80.19%. Exposure time to screens was 4 hours in 31.68% and 6 hours in 33.66% of study participants. Exposure time to smartphones was 4 hours in 26.73% of participants and 6 hours in 26.73%.of participants. Amongst the participants, 90.09% were screen users at near distance, out of which 73 (72.27%) smartphone users complained of eye tiredness. Seventy-eight people were using smartphones at high brightness which caused visual fatigue in 77.22% of participants. Sixty Seven (65.85%) were using screens at a close distance which caused eye tiredness with a percentage of 67.89%. The chi-square test showed a significance value in two groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: Visual fatigue occurred when exposure to screens was more than 4 hours. The use of screens close to the eyes with high brightness caused a decrease in the blinking rate that resulted in asthenopia, dry eye, computer vision syndrome, and eye tiredness.