The Influence of Work Ergonomics and The Use of Lubricating Drops on the Improvement of the Subjective and Objective Ocular Parameters in Patients with Computer Vision Syndrome

Currently, due to technological development people spend
increasing amounts of time in front of a screen at work and at home...

by WeAreSocial website in cooperation with Hootsuite). The risk of developing various ocular problems was found to increase with work duration of over 4 hours [5,6]. The problem will be intensifying in the following years. It is associated with prolonged lifespan, longer working time, and the necessity to work on the computer. Therefore, it is important to increase patient awareness of suitable working conditions to provide proper care of the eyesight.

Objective
The aim of the study is to assess subjective and objective factors in office workers who use computers as the primary tool of everyday work. It is the first study conducted in the Polish population to assess the parameters testing the eyeball surface in computer vision syndrome and their analysis after the administration of lubricating drops and the implementation of suitable work hygiene in computer users.

Subjects and Methods
The retrospective study included 119 individuals -office workers who used a computer every day. The study was conducted in an Outpatient Department in Warsaw between October 2019 and February 2020. Study participants were asked about the number of hours they spent in front of a computer daily, job seniority in the current workplace expressed in years. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from all the subjects. The subjective assessment of ocular manifestations in computer users. The participants completed the OSDI (Ocular Surface Disease Index) questionnaire concerning the symptoms, their influence on visual quality and environmental factors which may trigger or exacerbate the symptoms.
The content of the questionnaire is presented in Tables 1-3

below.
The OSDI index is calculated according to the formula:

Results
The study included 119 participants (79 men and 40 women) who had been using computers for a long time.

Discussion
It is commonly known that the large amount of time spent in front of a computer has a negative effect on the condition of the eyeball surface, which may lead to dry eye syndrome [8]. The complaints of eye discomfort, sensation of a foreign body, pain, blurred or deteriorated vision are more commonly voiced by computer users than by those who spend little time in front of a screen. The symptoms exacerbate during reading, watching TV, driving a car, or spending time in dry air-conditioned rooms [9,10]. Such undesirable manifestations lead to the malaise, poor mental status and even frustration. It may result in the reduced productivity of workers [10,11]. In a study conducted on a group of Polish dentistry students by Bartoszek  in the morning and evening in a group of workers using computers.
Similar observations were reported by Uchino, et al. [14,15]. The osmolarity of the tear film is one of the best markers of dry eye syndrome [16]. Increased osmolarity has a negative influence on the corneal epithelium, causing its more marked shedding, increased loss of intercellular connections, and the aggravation of symptoms associated with dry eye syndrome in people [17,18].
Normal osmolarity values of the tear film range from 296 to 302 mOsm/l in healthy individuals [19]. The present analysis showed the mean baseline value of osmolarity to be within normal  [21,22]. Normal osmolarity values of the tear film range from 296 to 302 mOsm/l in healthy individuals [19].The mean osmolarity was 300.83±11.68 mOsm/l. Yazici et al. conducted a study in which they obtained 306.6±14.9 mOsm/L at the beginning of a working day and 311.0±12.5 mOsm/L at the end of a working day in computer users [23]. The present study showed the mean NIBUT before drop administration in office workers to be 13.13±3.13 seconds, which is normal.