Extended screen time in youth tied to dry eye and blinking behavior: Study

New Zealand: According to a new study done by Alex Muntz and colleagues, extended screen usage in a young population was related to blinking behavior and symptomatology comparable with individuals suffering from dry eye. The findings of this study were published in the Contact lens and Anterior Eye: Journal of British Contact Lens Association.

Excessive screen usage among young people is a global epidemic with far-reaching ramifications for health and quality of life. Dry eye illness is becoming more common in pediatric populations, and it is connected with altered blinking behavior during prolonged screen usage. The purpose of this study was to assess the spontaneous blink rates, dry eye symptoms, and screen use behaviors of juvenile prolonged screen time users.

Attendees of a gaming conference in Auckland, New Zealand, conducted a self-directed iPad-based survey on personal screen use habits and ocular symptoms using the 5-item Dry Eye Questionnaire (DEQ-5) and the Symptom Assessment in Dry Eye (SANDE) questionnaires for the following study. Blink rate was captured discreetly and concurrently with the front-facing iPad camera and measured by automated software. As a surrogate for tear film stability assessments, a validated self-assessment blink test was used.

The results stated that:

1. A total of 456 people (mean age SD: 24 10 years, range: 13 – 75, 38% female) reported an average weekly screen use of 43.7 24.4 hours.

2. DEQ-5 and SANDE scores were 10±3 and 34±19 respectively; 90% of respondents were symptomatic for dry eye illness (DEQ-5 6).

3. Blink test findings indicated a tear film stability of 10 s in 24% of patients.

4. Poorer symptomology was associated with higher screen use, increased blink rates, and decreased proxy tear film stability.

In conclusion, routine clinical screening, educational interventions, and the development of official guidelines on safe screen use may aid in the prevention of rapid deterioration of ocular surface health and quality of life in young people. The link between excessive screen time and dry eye in young individuals merits additional investigation and the creation of interventions to address more comfortable screen use in young patients.

Reference:

Muntz, A., Turnbull, P. R., Kim, A. D., Gokul, A., Wong, D., Tsay, T. S.-W., Zhao, K., Zhang, S., Kingsnorth, A., Wolffsohn, J. S., & Craig, J. P. (2021). Extended screen time and dry eye in youth. In Contact Lens and Anterior Eye (p. 101541). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2021.101541