A study reveals that adolescents spend about 4 hours per day on their smartphones, and episodes of 20 minutes continuous use seem to lead to more myopic refractive errors, especially among those with low outdoor exposure.
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| Photo: Smartphone Use in Teens | InStyleHealth |
Utilizing a mobile application, experts assessed axial
length and refractive error of the eyes of 525 adolescents with an average age
of 13.7 years old, 54% were girls, in relation to their smartphone usage. The mobile
app was designed to evaluate smartphone use, gauge face-to-face distance, and
pose questions about outdoor exposure.
Participants has undergone cycloplegic refractive
error and ocular biometry assessments. Average daily smartphone use was
quantified as hours per day, with continuous use defined as the number of
20-minute episodes of screen viewing without breaks.
A myopia had a prevalence rate of 18.9%, during school
days, the children spent a mean of 3.71 hours per day on their smartphone. A
trend of correlation between the total smartphone use and the ratio of axial length
(AL) and corneal radius (CR) but not spherical equivalent or SER.
The children had 6.42 episodes per day, on average, of
continuous smartphone usage. Episodes, such as these, are significantly associated
with both SER and AL/CR.
Correlations between continuous smartphone use and SER
and AL/CR, in a stratified analysis for outdoor exposure, were seen only among
teenagers with limited outdoor exposure.
However, smartphone usage during weekends revealed no
significant correlation with SER and AL/CR, nor did face-to-screen distance.
Outcomes emphasize the significance of taking frequent
breaks when using a smartphone, specifically among teenagers. To further
explore safe screen use in youth, future large longitudinal studies are
required.
Source: Ophthalmology
2021;doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2021.06.016