This study found that healthy children may report mild to moderate symptoms of ocular discomfort from prolonged use of digital screens, even if no clinical signs are present. This may be a precursor to future ocular surface disorders.
Digital eye strain is becoming more common in children and teenagers. The symptoms of asthenopia can be due to dry eye, binocular vision dysfunction and glare sensitivity – learn more about each of these, as well as guidelines to manage the risks.
Children nowadays frequently engage in screen time. Read this case to find out how excessive screen time can impact meibomian gland health.
While 80% of pre-presbyopic adults with Digital Eye Strain symptoms preferred reading with low-addition lenses, the improvement in reading speed was generally small and did not appear to correlate with specific accommodation or binocular vision dysfunctions. In the 8% who showed a significant improvement in reading rate of at least 15%, a majority showed reduced accommodation amplitude.
By using a wearable device to objectively monitor visual behaviour, this study found progression in young myopic children was correlated with less time outdoors, more time working at near for online learning and less time spent wearing their glasses.
Teenagers in the Netherlands were able to spend time outdoors during the COVID pandemic but still significantly increased near work on digital devices.. This is expected to give an increase in myopia prevalence and progression in European teens but to a lesser extent than in Asia where there was restricted outdoor time with stricter lockdown.
Myopia is becoming more common, as knowledge on detection and management increase. When should you start myopia control? Here we present an overview of when you might start myopia management across the spectrum of patient presentations. Since every child and their family are unique, we also point you towards more information for each situation.
This new systematic review and meta-analysis has evaluated use of smartphones and tablets separately to computer use and other non-screen based near work. Results are still mixed but overall there was a trend for a slightly increased risk with mobile device use alone, which increased when combined with computer use. More objective measures of screen time are needed to further explore this link.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw widespread home confinement, increased screen time in children with home-based learning, and decreased time spent outdoors. Several recent publications have explored the impact of this period of time on the incidence and progression of myopia, lifestyle behaviours, digital eye strain, myopia treatment efficacy and more. What should we now monitor and discuss with our young myopic patients in the post-COVID world?
Will China’s new regulations restricting online gaming in children reduce the myopia crisis? Is there evidence that less screen time increases outdoor time? We explore the links and impacts, positive effects of gaming and advice for parents.
