Computer Vision Syndrome in Students of a Medical School in Colombia. A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: The incidence of computer vision syndrome (CVS) is rising due to the use of digital platforms. There have been reports of higher rates of CVS in medical students. Thus, we decided to describe this syndrome in medical students of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Methods: The computer-vision symptom scale (CVSS17) was applied to 112 medical students from the seventh to the tenth semester. We estimated the prevalence, and bivariate analysis was done to compare the proportions, screen time, and score between groups. Results: 63.39 % of students reported having myopia, 55.35 % astigmatism, 10.71 % hyperopia, and 14.28 % dry eye. The median time of screen exposure was 8 hours (IQR = 4), CVSS17 scores 34.5 (IQR = 9.5), internal symptomatic factor 12 (IQR 3), and external symptomatic factor 23 (IQR 7). The overall prevalence of CVS was 41.07 %. The bivariate analysis comparing both CVS with non-CVS showed a similar distribution of the analyzed variables. Common ocular symptoms were eyelid heaviness (98.2 %), eye strain (93.8 %) and eye congestion (93.8 %), visual symptoms were accommodative dysfunction (61.6 %), blurry vision (55.4 %) and accommodation spasm (52.7 %). Discussion: Long shifts, academic sessions, work, presentations, tests, internet, and smartphone misuse are hypotheses thought to influence the screen time of medical students. The external symptoms were more frequent and those are more susceptible to interventions. We propose a health promotion and prevention of disease strategy. Conclusion: It is important to encourage medical student’s screen time breaks, increase blinking frequency, monitor the electronic use time “detoxing method”, and establish adequate light in the environment, along with adequate or comfortable postures