Computer vision syndrome: prevalence and predictors among students

Abstract

Background: Globally around 60 million people are suffering from Computer vision syndrome (CVS). A well-known eye and vision-related problem resulting from prolonged computer, tablet, e-reader and cell phone use. Viewing a digital screen often increases the visual load therefore the aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of CVS among students. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st September 2018 to 31st May 2019 on a sample of 320 students from diverse physiotherapy institutes of Karachi.  Participants of both genders between the age of 18-24 years were included in the study. Data regarding demographics, CVS assessment, associated symptoms, intensity of symptoms and daily vision routine was recorded. CVS was assessed using a standardized CVS questionnaire (CVS-Q) and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 320 physiotherapy students with a mean age of 21.04+0.8 years were enrolled in the study, majority of them were females 245(76.6%). Out of these, 186 students were diagnosed with CVS as they scored ≥6 on Segui and Colleagues CVS questionnaire with headache being the most prevalent symptom (63.1%) followed by itching (52.8%), increased sensitivity to light (43.6%), eye pain (42.6%) and feeling of foreign body (39.5%). Among the activities involved in daily vision routine, optical use and sitting posture were significantly associated with CVS. Conclusion: It can be concluded from the study results that CVS is highly prevalent among physiotherapy students, one of the reasons for this might be the increased digital screens usage for academic purpose and clinical decision making.