The role of printed and electroniс publications in development of vision disorders

Aim. To study whether the use of printed and electronic publications is associated with vision disorders.

Materials and Methods. We interrogated 100 high school students and 355 university students using a questionnaire developed by the Research Institute of Hygiene and Surveillance on Child and Adolescent Health. Further, 179 university students were examined utilising the automated system for the physiological testing while 100 high school students were examined by a certified ophthalmologist.

Results. Around the half of the students have self-evaluated their vision as reduced, without associating this with the use of electronic devices. Boys were more prone to underestimate their health (Pearson’s contingency coefficient C = 0.2, p < 0.001). Eye fatigue was significantly associated with higher frequency of using electronic devices regardless of their type (C = 0.7 for desktop computers and laptops, 0.8 for electronic books and 0.6 for tablets (p = 0.001)) while headaches were specifically associated with increased laptop use (C = 0.5, p = 0.02). Self-assessed reduced vision correlated with higher frequency of tablet use (C = 0.2, p = 0.004). Moderate or high myopia were also associated with a higher frequency of using desktop computer or laptop (C = 0.75, p = 0.001). The average time of work on a computer reached 2 and 3 hours on schooldays and on the weekend, respectively, in high school students. These numbers were significantly higher in university students (2.6 and 4.4 hours respectively for desktop computer and 2.9/3.7 hours for laptop). Functional vision loss was detected in 67.2% of high school students and 19% of university students while moderate or high myopia was diagnosed in 8.2% of high school students and 53.6% of university students. Mean visual acuity was 0.61 ± 0.25 (OD) and 0.64 ± 0.25 (OS).

Conclusions. Safety indicators of electronic publications are needed to be developed and properly regulated.

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