Extensive computer use can cause a variety of symptoms and discomforts, including serious conditions like insomnia.
The researchers found that a significantly higher percentage of migraine participants were women than men. Photo: Shutterstock.
The computer vision syndrome, CVSis a condition that involves eye problems, a consequence of the time spent in front of a screen or device, generating significant effects such as insomnia, migrainein response to stress as a trigger and central mediating factor, new research suggests.
The researchers administered an online questionnaire to more than 700 adults, of whom 71% had CVS.
The results showed that the presence of CVS and higher stress were significantly associated with higher odds of developing these conditions.
“This study would help practicing physicians prevent computer vision syndrome in counseling patients on the importance of taking breaks when using a computer,” said lead investigator Souheil Hallit, PharmD, MSc, MPH, associate professor, Holy Spirit College of Medicine and Medical Sciences. Kaslik University, Jounieh, Lebanon.
“You can also take other preventive measures, such as adjusting the brightness of the screen to the lighting in the room, using screen filters and practicing good ergonomics,” said Hallit, who is also director of the Cross Psychiatric Hospital in Beirut.
Is this perhaps a public health problem?
“Computers and display screens have become an integral part of our daily routines,” the researchers write. However, increased screen time “can lead to harmful health conditions, especially eye problems,” known as CVSthey add.
Adding to this the increase in hours of use, thanks to the home office or work from home, thanks to the pandemic, a “significant public health problem” may be being created, they point out.
Symptoms that can develop, to greater use of devices or screens:
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Itch.
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Blurred or double vision.
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Eye pain.
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Headache.
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Back, neck and shoulder pain.
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Numbness of the hands or fingers.
Additionally, the blue light emitted from computer screens can interfere with normal circadian rhythm, leading to digital eyestrain and insomniathe researchers point out.
Stress is another trigger for seizures. migraine and is also a risk factor for the development of migraine Chronicle from the migraine episodic, they add. In addition, stressful life events can induce insomnia.
“We chose to conduct this study because computer use has become essential to our daily lives. In addition, the prevalence of CVS it is increasing in other populations and there are no Lebanese studies available on this,” Hallit said.
“We also think that shedding light on the existence of this syndrome would help implement preventive measures to minimize the high prevalence of CVS among computer users,” he added.
The researchers administered an online questionnaire to all digital device users from all districts in Lebanon, with data collection taking place during the government-imposed COVID-19 lockdown.
The 749 study participants (mean age, 24 years; 65.6% women) were recruited using a snowball sampling technique, in which links were sent to individuals via WhatsApp and email. Additionally, participants were asked to send the link to others who use digital devices.
Most disturbing symptom
The results showed that 70.5% of the participants had CVS. Headache was reported as “the most worrying eye symptom” (34%), followed by burning eyes (10.8%). The most bothersome extraocular symptoms were neck pain and low back pain (43.3% and 33.4%, respectively).
A multivariable analysis using a linear regression model, and taking the score of insomnia as a dependent variable, showed that the presence of CVS (ß = 3.26) was significantly associated with a higher rate of insomnia.
The researchers also looked at factors associated with migraine and found that a significantly higher percentage of participants with migraine were female than male (51.3% vs. 41.5%, respectively; P = .01) and had CVS in front of none CVS (53.8% vs. 35.7%, p=0.001).
In particular, those with migraine had a higher mean stress score compared to those with a lower stress score (13.90 vs. 9.92, respectively; P < 0.001).
CVS and higher stress were significantly associated with higher odds of having migraineas shown in the following table:
A mediation analysis showed that stress mediated the association between CVS y migraine by 52.8%, and between CVS e insomnia by 80%.
Hallit noted that the study “could help doctors” monitor the insomnia.
“By focusing on the fact that computer use just before bedtime, especially when experiencing stressful life events, is associated with insomniadoctors can treat insomnia without the need for medication,” he said.
“Furthermore, finding screen headache to be the most disturbing symptom of CVS It would help doctors treat headache non-pharmacologically with certain preventative measures, such as using a blue light filter when using a computer screen,” Hallit added.
modifiable risk
Dr. Alison Thaler, an assistant professor of neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, and a member of the editorial board of the American Migraine Foundation, noted that stress is a “major risk factor for migraine“.
It can also “lead to poor posture while working in front of a computer, which, over time, can activate trigger points in the neck and shoulder muscles that can trigger migrainesaid Thaler, who was not involved in the investigation.
For that reason, “it makes sense that higher levels of stress might strengthen the connection between CVS and the migraine. The worse the stress, the more likely the CVS is linked with the migraine“, said.
“We can limit screen time when possible, avoid screen time before bed, and wear blue-light filtering glasses to help prevent CVS cause attacks of migraine“, said.
consulted source here.