Written by Jessica Patella, ND. Eye strain significantly increased and eye lubrication significantly decreased in the participating healthy subjects who watched a tablet computer screen for one hour.
According to Business Insider there will be more than 24 billion internet connect devices by 2020; that is more than 4-devices per person on earth 1. The increased use of smart devices has resulted in mental health problems, such as anxiety 2, as well as, physical problems, such as neck stiffness, blurred vision and dry eyes 3. Recent research found just one hour of viewing a tablet screen resulted in visual fatigue and discomfort, even with state-of-the-art retina display technology 4.
Little research on the newest technology of retina display has been conducted regarding vision. Retina display was introduced by Apple Inc. making screen images and words look incredibly crisp because the pixels are invisible to the naked eye 4.
The recent research 4 included 59-healthy participants (20-65 years, average 38.16 +/- 10.23 years) who were asked to watch a tablet computer screen (iPad Air) for 1-hour. Participants either watched a movie or played a computer game 4. All participants completed a questionnaire on eye strain (developed by Ames et al.) before and immediately after tablet use. Objective measurements included tear film break-up time (to indicate eye lubrication) and total ocular wavefront aberration (to indicate focusing ability).
The results were as follows:
| Baseline | After 1-hour of tablet use | Significance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eyestrain score (asthenopia) | 19.59 +/- 8.58 | 22.68 +/- 9.39 | Significant increase p<0.001 |
| Tear film break-up time (TBUT) | 5.09 +/- 1.52 seconds | 4.64 +/- 1.34 seconds | Significant decrease p=0.003 |
These results indicate that eyestrain was worse after 1-hour of viewing a screen. Tired eyes, sore/aching eyes, irritated eyes, watery eyes and hot/burning eyes were significantly increased on the questionnaire after 1-hour of tablet viewing. The tear film break-up time significantly decreased meaning that the eyes were less lubricated after 1-hour of viewing. There was no significant change in ocular wavefront aberration, indicating there was no change in focusing ability 4.
In conclusion, visual fatigue was significantly worse when participants viewed a state-of-the-art retina display tabled for 1-hour. Future research should consider including a control group and a more objective measurement for eye strain rather than a questionnaire. Researchers stated that considering the increasing exposure to computer displays, more guidelines are needed to maintain visual health 4.
Source: Kim, Dong Ju, Chi-Yeon Lim, Namyi Gu, and Choul Yong Park. “Visual Fatigue Induced by Viewing a Tablet Computer with a High-resolution Display.” Korean Journal of Ophthalmology 31, no. 5 (2017): 388-393.
© 2017 The Korean Ophthalmological Society. Open Access under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Posted January 21, 2019.
References:
- Intelligence BI. There will be 24 billion IoT devices installed on earth by 2020. 2016; growth of Internet devices Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/there-will-be-34-billion-iot-devices-installed-on-earth-by-2020-2016-5. Accessed January 10, 2019, 2019.
- Choi S-W, Kim D-J, Choi J-S, et al. Comparison of risk and protective factors associated with smartphone addiction and Internet addiction. Journal of behavioral addictions. 2015;4(4):308-314.
- Moon JH, Lee MY, Moon NJ. Association between video display terminal use and dry eye disease in school children. Journal of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus. 2014;51(2):87-92.
- Kim DJ, Lim C-Y, Gu N, Park CY. Visual Fatigue Induced by Viewing a Tablet Computer with a High-resolution Display. Korean Journal of Ophthalmology. 2017;31(5):388-393.
