Almost two-thirds of Americans suffer from some digital eye strain from looking at display screens, and the problem is even more widespread among people who multitask across multiple screens, a survey shows.
Symptoms of digital eye strain (DES), including dry or irritated eyes, blurred vision or headaches, were reported by 65 percent of the more than 10,000 people responding to the survey conducted by the Vision Council.
That figure went up to 75 percent amount people using two or more devices simultaneously, according to the report, Eyes Overexposed: Digital Device Dilemma, released by the council, a trade group that represents manufacturers and suppliers in the optical industry.
The problem will likely get worse, the survey suggests, based on the survey's finding that 90 percent of Americans use some sort of digital device at least two hours every day, 60 percent use them for five hours or more daily and 70 percent are gazing between two or more device display screens at the same time.
"Our eyes are not built to stare at digital screens all day, but the demands of our modern-day world frequently put us in front of a computer, working from our smartphones, and reading on our tablets for hours on end," optometrist Dr. Justin Bazan says. "As a result, many of us are living with tired, sore and fatigued eyes, and even headaches — all symptoms of digital eye strain."
The magnitude of the problem varied by age group, and was most prevalent among 20-somethings, who are the most likely to be jumping between multiple devices and also most likely to be reading news and information on smartphones with smaller screens that put additional strain on eyeballs, explains Bazan, a medical adviser for the Vision Council.
"It's the problem everyone has but no one knows they have," he says. "Millennials are experiencing the most symptoms but also have most normalized it."
Another survey finding was that women were more likely than men to report symptoms of eye strain since they are more likely to multitask across several devices.
The onset of digital eye strain involves a number of factors, experts say, including how close to the screen a person is, how often and for how long they stare at screens and the degree of their exposure to the blue light display screens emit.
That puts a strain on the tiny muscles in the eye that must work constantly to focus at close distances while constantly having to adjust to different light levels, they say.
While most people can recover from digital eye strain by taking a break from display screens, there are growing concerns about possible permanent effects, says Geoffrey Goodfellow, a professor at the Illinois College of Optometry.
"It will be interesting to see, 30 years from now, what is the long-term toll on our eyes from using all of these devices," he says.
