Ibtehaj Munir, Farhat Ijaz, Uswah Shoaib, Fizza Yahya, Rana Khurram Aftab, Muhammad Farid.
Prevalence of Digital Eye Strain in the Gaming Community of Pakistan during First Countrywide COVID Lockdown.
Esculapio J Services Inst Med Sci Sep ;18(1):15-9.

Objective: This cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the prevalence of Digital Eye Strain (DES)signs and symptoms among the video gamers in Pakistan, during the period of 1st countrywide COVIDlockdown (March 2020 to September 2020) imposed by the government.Method: This survey was circulated via Google Forms on major social media gaming forums in Pakistan.Non-probability convenient sampling technique was used to collect data via an anonymous questionnaireregarding the signs and symptoms of DES and the gaming routines of the participants. Data was analyzedusing SPSS 24.Results: There were 201 (89.7%) males and 23 (10.3%) females with a mean age of 20.72 +- 3.78 years andmean gaming of 12.59 +- 11.40 hours per week. Out of all the signs and symptoms, tired eyes (50.2%) was themost common, followed by neck and/or shoulder pain (39.9%), headache (33.5%) and watery eyes (29.1%).The symptom considered the most disturbing was Neck and/or Shoulder pain (18.3%). 112 (50%)participants had a reduced visual acuity as well, and among them, the incidence during the lockdown was of22 (19.6%) responders. Only the people showing four or more than four signs and symptoms were consideredDigital Eye Strain positive.Conclusion: Signs and Symptoms of DES were more common among participants who did video gaming forincreased hours than with those who did less, and the difference was significant (p value = 0.03). Distancefrom the screen had an insignificant effect on the signs and symptoms.

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