Purpose:
To evaluate the
association between visual symptoms and use of digital
devices considering the presence of visual dysfunctions.
Methods:
An optometric examination was conducted in a clinical sample of 346
patients to
diagnose any type of visual anomaly. Visual symptoms were collected using the validated SQVD
questionnaire. A threshold of 6 hours per day was used to quantify the effects of digital
device usage and
patients were divided into two groups under and above of 35 years old. A multivariate
logistic regression was employed to investigate the
association between digital
device use and symptoms, with visual dysfunctions considered as a
confounding variable. Crude and the adjusted
odds ratio (OR) were calculated for each variable.
Results:
57.02 % of the subjects reported visual symptoms, and 65.02% exhibited some form of visual dysfunction. For
patients under 35 years old, an
association was found between having visual symptoms and digital
device use (OR = 2.10, p = 0.01). However, after adjusting for visual dysfunctions, this
association disappeared (OR = 1.44, p = 0.27) and the
association was instead between symptoms and refractive dysfunction (OR = 6.52, p < 0.001), accommodative (OR = 10.47, p < 0.001),
binocular (OR = 6.68, p < 0.001) and accommodative plus
binocular dysfunctions (OR = 46.84, p < 0.001). Among
patients over 35 years old, no
association was found between symptoms and the use of digital
devices (OR = 1.27, p = 0.49) but there was an
association between symptoms and refractive dysfunction (OR = 3.54, p = 0.001).
Conclusions:
Visual symptoms are not dependent on the duration of digital
device use but rather on the presence of any type of visual dysfunction refractive, accommodative and/or
binocular one, which should be diagnosed.(AU)
