Binocular Accommodation and Vergence Dysfunction in Children Attending Online Classes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Digital Eye Strain in Kids (DESK) Study-2.
J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus
; 58(4): 224-231, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1319770
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
To subjectively evaluate the degree of visual fatigue in children attending online classes during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and objectively evaluate accommodation and vergence dysfunction in these children.METHODS:
Children aged between 10 and 17 years with recent onset of asthenopia symptoms were included. Symptoms were evaluated using the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) questionnaire. A CISS score of 16 or greater was considered symptomatic. Binocular vergence and accommodation parameters were objectively evaluated. For ease of comparison, children were divided into two groups children using digital devices for less than 4 hours/day and children using digital devices for 4 hours/day or more.RESULTS:
A total of 46 children with a mean age of 14.47 ± 1.95 years were evaluated. The mean duration of online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic was 3.08 ± 1.68 hours/day, which is higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic (0.58 ± 0.71 hours/day, P < .00001). The mean CISS scores were 21.73 ± 12.81 for children using digital devices less than 4 hours/day and 30.34 ± 13.0 for children using digital devices for 4 hours/day or more (P = .019). Mean near exophoria (P = .03), negative fusional vergence (P = .02), negative relative accommodation (P = .057), and accommodation amplitude (P = .002) were different between the two groups. The Spearman correlation between the symptomatic CISS score and the duration of online classes showed a linear association (coefficient rs = 0.39; P = .007). In the multivariate analysis, only the duration of online classes longer than 4 hours was a significant risk factor (P = .07) for the symptomatic CISS score.CONCLUSIONS:
Online classes longer than 4 hours were more detrimental to abnormal binocular vergence and accommodation parameters than online classes shorter than 4 hours. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2021;58(4)224-231.].
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vision, Binocular
/
Ocular Motility Disorders
/
Convergence, Ocular
/
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
/
Accommodation, Ocular
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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