Rev Bras Oftalmol.2023;82:e0025
Acute eye symptoms in schoolchildren and adolescents after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic
DOI: 10.37039/1982.8551.20230025
ABSTRACT
Objective
To identify eye conditions associated to social distancing and related increase in screen time exposure on children and teenagers.
Methods
Observational, descriptive and analytical study, with a cross-section design, carried out between July and August 2021, by questionnaire survey.
Results
Headaches related to excessive screen time exposure were reported by 26.51% of the students surveyed, while 38.8% reported suspect convergence insufficiency. Regarding the questionnaire about dry eye, 18.8% were symptomatic and 7.5% reported hard-to-manage symptoms. Computers were the devices most used for schoolwork (71.5%), followed by cellphones on second place (66.3%). Symptomatic cases of dry eye were mostly reported by participants that did not make use of computers (36.4%). It was not possible to establish a connection between convergence insufficiency and device usage time. Those participants that reported more screen time exposure also reported an increased percentage of hard-to-manage symptoms (42.9%), regarding dry eye.
Conclusion
Dry eye and convergence insufficiency symptoms were more prevalent in the surveyed population.
