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Online e-learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 11–19 years

BACKGROUND: The increase in online learning during the pandemic has been linked to various ocular complaints. This study determined the prevalence and factors associated with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 12–19 years during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). METHOD...

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Autores principales: Ekemiri, Kingsley, Ezinne, Ngozika, Kamalodeen, Khadeejah, Pierre, Keomi, Lalla, Brandon, Amiebenomo, Onyekachukwu, van Staden, Diane, Zeried, Ferial, Ekemiri, Chioma, Agho, Kingsley E., Osuagwu, Uchechukwu Levi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9179615/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35694382
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13334
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author Ekemiri, Kingsley
Ezinne, Ngozika
Kamalodeen, Khadeejah
Pierre, Keomi
Lalla, Brandon
Amiebenomo, Onyekachukwu
van Staden, Diane
Zeried, Ferial
Ekemiri, Chioma
Agho, Kingsley E.
Osuagwu, Uchechukwu Levi
author_facet Ekemiri, Kingsley
Ezinne, Ngozika
Kamalodeen, Khadeejah
Pierre, Keomi
Lalla, Brandon
Amiebenomo, Onyekachukwu
van Staden, Diane
Zeried, Ferial
Ekemiri, Chioma
Agho, Kingsley E.
Osuagwu, Uchechukwu Levi
author_sort Ekemiri, Kingsley
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The increase in online learning during the pandemic has been linked to various ocular complaints. This study determined the prevalence and factors associated with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 12–19 years during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and May 2021, during the COVID-19 lockdown in T&T among secondary school students studying remotely. A two-stage cluster sampling method was employed. A modified web-based Computer Vision Syndrome questionnaire was administered to students. Data on demography, duration of digital device use, and ocular complaints were collected, and multilevel logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with ocular complaints among school children, 12–19 years of age in T&T. RESULTS: A total of 435 schoolchildren (mean age, standard deviation, 15.2 ± 1.9 years range 12–19 years) responded to the questionnaire. The prevalence of self-reported symptoms of headache, blurred vision, dry eyes, itchy eyes, and double vision were 75.0%, 65.1%; 56.8%; 46.4%; and 33.5%, respectively. Schoolchildren aged 18–19 years, those that used spectacles for correction of their refractive errors, and spent more than 6 h on average on digital devices, reported a high prevalence of any ocular complaints. Analysis also revealed that age (14–15 years) was associated with dry eyes, blurred vision, and headaches, while gender (more prevalently females) was associated with blurred vision and headache. Those that had an eye examination in the last year and schoolchildren that took action to resolve ocular complaints were more likely to experience nearly all ocular complaints. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 lockdown, over three in four students in T&T reported ocular complaints from digital devices for online learning. Tailored interventional messages to reduce all forms of ocular complaints should target older students, particularly females, those who laid down when learning online via their devices and people who regularly examine their eyes.
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spelling pubmed-91796152022-06-10 Online e-learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 11–19 years Ekemiri, Kingsley Ezinne, Ngozika Kamalodeen, Khadeejah Pierre, Keomi Lalla, Brandon Amiebenomo, Onyekachukwu van Staden, Diane Zeried, Ferial Ekemiri, Chioma Agho, Kingsley E. Osuagwu, Uchechukwu Levi PeerJ Infectious Diseases BACKGROUND: The increase in online learning during the pandemic has been linked to various ocular complaints. This study determined the prevalence and factors associated with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 12–19 years during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and May 2021, during the COVID-19 lockdown in T&T among secondary school students studying remotely. A two-stage cluster sampling method was employed. A modified web-based Computer Vision Syndrome questionnaire was administered to students. Data on demography, duration of digital device use, and ocular complaints were collected, and multilevel logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with ocular complaints among school children, 12–19 years of age in T&T. RESULTS: A total of 435 schoolchildren (mean age, standard deviation, 15.2 ± 1.9 years range 12–19 years) responded to the questionnaire. The prevalence of self-reported symptoms of headache, blurred vision, dry eyes, itchy eyes, and double vision were 75.0%, 65.1%; 56.8%; 46.4%; and 33.5%, respectively. Schoolchildren aged 18–19 years, those that used spectacles for correction of their refractive errors, and spent more than 6 h on average on digital devices, reported a high prevalence of any ocular complaints. Analysis also revealed that age (14–15 years) was associated with dry eyes, blurred vision, and headaches, while gender (more prevalently females) was associated with blurred vision and headache. Those that had an eye examination in the last year and schoolchildren that took action to resolve ocular complaints were more likely to experience nearly all ocular complaints. CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 lockdown, over three in four students in T&T reported ocular complaints from digital devices for online learning. Tailored interventional messages to reduce all forms of ocular complaints should target older students, particularly females, those who laid down when learning online via their devices and people who regularly examine their eyes. PeerJ Inc. 2022-06-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9179615/ /pubmed/35694382 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13334 Text en © 2022 Ekemiri et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Infectious Diseases
Ekemiri, Kingsley
Ezinne, Ngozika
Kamalodeen, Khadeejah
Pierre, Keomi
Lalla, Brandon
Amiebenomo, Onyekachukwu
van Staden, Diane
Zeried, Ferial
Ekemiri, Chioma
Agho, Kingsley E.
Osuagwu, Uchechukwu Levi
Online e-learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 11–19 years
title Online e-learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 11–19 years
title_full Online e-learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 11–19 years
title_fullStr Online e-learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 11–19 years
title_full_unstemmed Online e-learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 11–19 years
title_short Online e-learning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago: prevalence and associated factors with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 11–19 years
title_sort online e-learning during the covid-19 lockdown in trinidad and tobago: prevalence and associated factors with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 11–19 years
topic Infectious Diseases
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9179615/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35694382
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13334
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