Dry Eye and Visual Display Terminal-Related Symptoms among University Students during the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic.
Ophthalmic Epidemiol
; 29(3): 245-251, 2022 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1305396
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
To evaluate dry eye (DE) and subjective visual display terminal (VDT)-related symptoms in university students who moved their classes online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
Cross-sectional study of students who were taking online classes. In May 2020, the participants completed a Dry Eye Questionnaire (DEQ-5) and a self-report survey, which included demographics, medical history, information on the use of VDT and presence of VDT-related symptoms. Participants were classified as having mild/moderate (7-12) or severe (>12) DE symptoms based on their DEQ-5 score. The associations between severe DE symptoms and relevant factors were also evaluated.RESULTS:
The data of 1450 eligible students were analyzed. The mean age of the participants was 21.1 (2.7) years. 42.8% of the participants had mild/moderate DE symptoms, whereas 34.7% had severe symptoms. Associated factors for severe DE were female sex (OR = 2.57, CI [1.97-3.35]), allergic disease (OR = 1.63, CI [1.24-2.13]), previous dry eye diagnosis (OR = 13.49, CI [7.10-25.63]), keratoconus (OR = 5.56, CI [1.27-24.44], contact lens use (OR = 1.77, CI [1.24-2.53]) and duration of VDT use (OR = 1.02, CI [1.01-1.05]). Prior to the pandemic, the mean reported duration of VDT use was 9.8 (4.7) hours; this increased to 15.9 (5.8) hours during the online classes (p < .001). 80.6% of the participants reported a global increase in VDT-related symptoms.CONCLUSION:
Students taking online classes had a high frequency of DE symptoms. They also reported a significant increase in VDT-related symptoms. DE should be considered as an emerging health problem among the young population, which is probably related to the recent changes in lifestyle.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Dry Eye Syndromes
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Young adult
Language:
English
Journal:
Ophthalmic Epidemiol
Journal subject:
Epidemiology
/
Ophthalmology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
09286586.2021.1943457
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