Determinants of digital eye strain among university students in a district of India: a cross-sectional study

AIM: Digital device usage, especially during the pandemic, has catapulted into a new age problem, the computer vision syndrome. This study aimed to quantify the prevalence and determinants of digital eye strain (DES). SUBJECT AND METHODS: A total of 345 university students in India were surveyed in June–July 2022, by a validated tool, the Computer Vision Syndrome Questionnaire (CVS-Q) © in this cross-sectional study. According to American Optometric Association, digital eye strain and computer vision syndrome are synonyms. Non-parametric tests of medians were used to compare the median DES scores, Chi square test to compare categorical variables, and binary logistic regression to find the determinants of DES. RESULTS: The average age of the study participants was 21.0 ± 2.2 years, ranging between 18–26 years with 52.8% females and 47.2% males. The prevalence of DES was 45.5% (CI 95% = 40.2%–50.8%). Any existing eye disease (p-value = 0.000, OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.26–0.65), average daily screen time (p-value = 0.001, OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.22–2.13) and using gadgets in the dark (p-value = 0.000, OR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.23–0.61) were significant determinants of the same. CONCLUSION: Framing guidelines limiting the hours allotted for online classes for university students are imperative, with promotion of ergonomic practices for digital device usage such as blue light filters and night mode on devices.