Causes of ocular discomfort in patients of computer vision syndrome coming to a tertiary care centre

Abstract

Aim: To document causes of ocular discomfort in patients with computer vision syndrome. Materials and methods: This study included 150 patients with computer vision syndrome who presented in the Eye Out Patient Department of Abbassi Shaheed Hospital. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study with consecutive sampling technique starting from January 2016 until July 2016. All the patients were above 18 years and working at least three hours per day during the last 1 year. Patients diagnosed with ocular diseases, neurological diseases, using topical or systemic medications, who had ocular surgery and systemic diseases causing dry eyes, who did not give consent, and contact lens users were excluded. Ocular examination was done including refractive errors, slit lamp examination, and tear film breakup time. Data was collected and analysed on Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Results: This study had 150 individuals, of which 115 (76.2%) were males and 35 (23.2%) were females. Mean age was 32.3 ± 8.8 SD. The most frequent complaint was eye strain in 123 (81.5 %) individuals, followed by blurred vision in 94 (62.3%) individuals; the least common was diplopia in 13 (8.6%) individuals. Mean computer daily use was 5.96 ± 2.819 SD hours and duration of computer use was 10.13 ± 6.371 SD years. Tear film breakup time was less than 10 seconds in 63 (42%) individuals. Statistically significant P value 0.003 was seen between tear film breakup time and daily use in hours. Conclusion: A frequent cause of ocular discomfort in patients with computer vision syndrome is decreased tear film break up time. Another important cause is uncorrected refractive error, the most common of which is myopia, which should be addressed without delay to reduce ocular discomfort.