Digital Eye Strain in the 21𝑠𝑡 Century: Preventive and Therapeutic Approaches | Chapter 8 | Medical Science: Updates and Prospects Vol. 5

 

Digital eye strain (DES)—often used interchangeably with computer vision syndrome (CVS)—has become a widespread occupational and lifestyle health issue as work, education, and social interaction increasingly depend on screen-enabled devices. DES is not a single disease entity but a symptom complex arising from the interaction of visual demands (sustained near work, accommodative–vergence stress), ocular-surface disruption (reduced blink rate and tear-film instability), and environmental and ergonomic factors (glare, suboptimal lighting, viewing distance and posture). Contemporary prevalence estimates indicate that a substantial proportion of digital device users experience symptoms, with higher burdens reported in populations exposed to prolonged screen time, such as information technology professionals, radiologists, and school-aged children engaged in online learning. Assessment has evolved from ad hoc symptom checklists to validated patient-reported outcome measures, improving comparability across studies and enabling outcome tracking in clinical and workplace interventions. Preventive strategies—particularly task optimisation, ergonomic redesign, and structured breaks—remain central to public health management, while therapeutic approaches focus on correcting refractive and binocular vision anomalies, restoring ocular surface homeostasis, and mitigating exacerbating exposures. Recent experimental evidence suggests that break schedules more frequent than popular heuristics may yield superior symptom relief and accommodation stability, underscoring the need to align advice with emerging data. This review synthesises current evidence on DES mechanisms, assessment, prevention, and treatment, emphasising pragmatic, clinically actionable approaches and highlighting research gaps relevant to modern digital environments. Therapeutic care should prioritise task-appropriate optical correction and targeted management of binocular or accommodative inefficiencies when visual symptoms dominate, while addressing ocular surface stability when discomfort and dryness are prominent. Future progress will depend on wider use of standardised symptom measurement, better characterisation of risk by device type and task pattern, and pragmatic trials that evaluate combined interventions in real-world environments.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Gayathri Rathinavelu
Department of Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

A. M. Raja
Department of Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Balamurugan R.
Department of Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Praveena Daya A.
Department of Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Arumuganathan
Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/msup/v5/7022