Opinions on the impact of studying/working remotely on vision impairment and the use of eye hygiene principles

Sowa Magdalena, Pulnik Karolina, Jurkiewicz Beata. Opinions on the impact of studying/working remotely on vision impairment and the use of eye hygiene principles. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2022;12(8):257-264. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2022.12.08.025

https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/JEHS.2022.12.08.025

https://zenodo.org/record/6954437

The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. 32343.

Has a Journal's Unique Identifier: 201159. Scientific disciplines assigned: Physical Culture Sciences (Field of Medical sciences and health sciences); Health Sciences (Field of Medical Sciences and Health Sciences).

Punkty Ministerialne z 2019 - aktualny rok 40 punktów. Załącznik do komunikatu Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 21 grudnia 2021 r. Lp. 32343. Posiada Unikatowy Identyfikator Czasopisma: 201159.

Przypisane dyscypliny naukowe: Nauki o kulturze fizycznej (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu); Nauki o zdrowiu (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu).

© The Authors 2022;

This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland

Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike.

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

Received: 17.07.2022. Revised: 27.07.2022. Accepted: 02.08.2022.

Opinions on the impact of studying/working remotely on vision impairment and the use of eye hygiene principles

Magdalena Sowa

Scientific Association “Medyk”, student of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Applied Sciences in Tarnow

Karolina Pulnik

Scientific Association “Medyk”, student of Nursing, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Applied Sciences in Tarnow

Beata Jurkiewicz

Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Applied Sciences in Tarnow

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9788-7602

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the introduction of remote learning and working. Symptoms of digital eye fatigue are increasingly reducing the quality of life.

The aim of the study was to collect opinions on the impact of studying/working remotely on vision impairment and to find out the eye hygiene methods used by the respondents.

Material and methods. An original questionnaire consisting of 20 closed-ended questions was used for the study. The form was filled out by 194 people aged 18-55 years (mean: 23.15 ± 6.91 years) who were studying or working at least partially remotely.

Results. Respondents working remotely were most likely to spend more than 8 hours a day in front of the computer (49.02%), those working hybrid most often marked 5-6 hours (38.04%). Less than half - 44.85% - had a subjective feeling that their eyesight had deteriorated since they started learning/working remotely, and 19.07% declared that the deterioration of their eyesight had been confirmed by an examination with a specialist. Since starting to study/work online, respondents most often complained of eye fatigue (52.58%), dry eyes (34.54%), and sore/burning eyeballs (25.78%). Among eye hygiene rules, the largest percentage declared using a matte screen (48.97%), using "night mode" on an electronic device after dark (51.55%), sleeping for 7-9 hours (45.36%), and taking a break from the screen by blinking (41.24%). Few people are familiar with and use the exercise of closing and shading their eyes (6.70%) the 20-20-20 rule (4.12%), and do not use a smartphone/computer immediately before bed (2.58%).

Conclusions. Most of the respondents stated subjectively, or confirmed by a specialist, that their eyesight had deteriorated, and they associate this with learning/working remotely. The most common ocular symptom in the surveyed group was eye fatigue. There is a large deficit in the knowledge and application of eye hygiene principles that can benefit the organ of vision.

Keywords: remote work, hybrid work, remote learning, COVID-19, decreased vision, Computer Vision Syndrome