Children Gluing At Smartphones for Longer Time Are Predisposed To Dry-Eye Syndrome

Tablets and smartphones are proven to keep children busy and quite, and multiple types of research have verified this statement previously. But do you know, gluing at smartphones for the longer time can also have a drastic impact on eyes and reduce eye power among kids? Well, the latest research, done by a team of analysts from Chung-Ang University Hospital in South Korea revealed that the extreme use of Video Display Terminal (VDT) like smartphones, tablets, and computers in kids can trigger the occurrence of ocular surface symptoms.

According to the statistics, published by the researchers, the demand and use of smartphones among the children has been boosting up in the last couple of years. Currently, 90% children in the urban areas are addicted to smartphones and parents are allowing then with the device, in order to keep them composed. But the study has come up with appalling details, according to which, nearly 8.3% of kids in the metropolitan areas are found to suffer from defective eye syndromes like dry eye disease, which is only 2.8% in the rural areas.

In order to carry out the study, the scientists engrossed 916 kids among which 630 children were from metropolitan and 286 were from rural and divided them into two groups. The researchers conducted a visual test including a slit lamp trial and tear disintegrate frequency and also asked the children and their families to go through a questionnaire, which comprised the use frequency of Video Display Terminal (VDT), open-air activities of the kids, education and customized ocular surface disease index (OSDI) score.

After analyzing the data, the analysts found 61.3% children from the urban group to use the smartphone while 51% were found in the rural group. In addition, the researchers also suggested that the use of the smartphone in children was strongly linked with pediatric DED, which can be protected through outdoor activity. However, more study is needed on this matter, confirmed the researchers.

Older-grade children, who used to belong from the metropolitan areas, were found to have DED risk factors include a long period of smartphone use as well as a short short-term outdoor activity time. Therefore, serious cautions are needed to immune children from being affected by dry-eye issues, advised the chief analyst of the survey from the Chung-Ang University.