Attitudes of Optometrists in the UK and Ireland to Digital Eye Strain and Approaches to Assessment and Management

Patrick Moore; James S. Wolffsohn; Amy Sheppard

doi:10.1111/opo.12887

Attitudes of Optometrists in the UK and Ireland to Digital Eye Strain and Approaches to Assessment and Management

Patrick Moore, James S. Wolffsohn, Amy Sheppard^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the attitudes and understanding of optometrists in the UK and Ireland towards Digital Eye Strain (DES), and to examine related practice patterns.

Methods

An anonymous online questionnaire was developed, covering attitude and understanding of DES, examination of patients who may be experiencing DES and approaches to management options. The questionnaire was promoted to UK and Ireland optometrists via professional bodies and local and area optometric committees.

Results

406 responses were included in the analysis. Most respondents agreed that DES was an important concern for optometrists (88.9%). 91.4% reported they felt confident in discussing possible symptoms of DES and management options; this was weakly and negatively associated with number of years qualified (rs = −0.198, p ≤ 0.001). Estimations of the proportion of patients affected by DES were lower than reports in the literature (median 25%, IQR 10%–50%). Most respondents always (60.6%) or frequently (21.9%) inquired about device usage in routine case history taking, and also asked follow-up questions, although 29.3% only asked about the presence of symptoms half the time or less. Advising on regular breaks (84.0%), lubricants (55.7%) and environment/set up (69.2%) were felt to be extremely or very important by most respondents. Advising on specialist spectacle lenses, specifically blue filtering designs, was considered extremely or very important by 34.2% and 15.2%, respectively.

Conclusion

Given the agreement that DES is a significant issue causing frequent and persistent symptoms, and practitioners reported high levels of confidence in discussing DES, patients can expect to receive advice on symptoms and management from their optometrist. Simple management strategies were felt to be most important to advise on, with more uncertainty linked to specialist spectacle lenses.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1165-1175
Number of pages	11
Journal	Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics
Volume	41
Issue number	6
Early online date	21 Sept 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/opo.12887
Publication status	Published - Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

© 2021 The Authors. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of College of Optometrists.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Keywords

computer vision syndrome
digital eye strain
optometrists

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10.1111/opo.12887Licence: CC BY-NC 3.0

Attitudes of optometrists in the UK and Ireland
© 2021 The Authors. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of College of Optometrists. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Final published version, 1.54 MBLicence: CC BY-NC 3.0

Cite this

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title = "Attitudes of Optometrists in the UK and Ireland to Digital Eye Strain and Approaches to Assessment and Management",

abstract = "PurposeTo investigate the attitudes and understanding of optometrists in the UK and Ireland towards Digital Eye Strain (DES), and to examine related practice patterns.MethodsAn anonymous online questionnaire was developed, covering attitude and understanding of DES, examination of patients who may be experiencing DES and approaches to management options. The questionnaire was promoted to UK and Ireland optometrists via professional bodies and local and area optometric committees.Results406 responses were included in the analysis. Most respondents agreed that DES was an important concern for optometrists (88.9%). 91.4% reported they felt confident in discussing possible symptoms of DES and management options; this was weakly and negatively associated with number of years qualified (rs = −0.198, p ≤ 0.001). Estimations of the proportion of patients affected by DES were lower than reports in the literature (median 25%, IQR 10%–50%). Most respondents always (60.6%) or frequently (21.9%) inquired about device usage in routine case history taking, and also asked follow-up questions, although 29.3% only asked about the presence of symptoms half the time or less. Advising on regular breaks (84.0%), lubricants (55.7%) and environment/set up (69.2%) were felt to be extremely or very important by most respondents. Advising on specialist spectacle lenses, specifically blue filtering designs, was considered extremely or very important by 34.2% and 15.2%, respectively.ConclusionGiven the agreement that DES is a significant issue causing frequent and persistent symptoms, and practitioners reported high levels of confidence in discussing DES, patients can expect to receive advice on symptoms and management from their optometrist. Simple management strategies were felt to be most important to advise on, with more uncertainty linked to specialist spectacle lenses.",

keywords = "computer vision syndrome, digital eye strain, optometrists",

author = "Patrick Moore and Wolffsohn, {James S.} and Amy Sheppard",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of College of Optometrists. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.",

year = "2021",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1111/opo.12887",

language = "English",

volume = "41",

pages = "1165--1175",

journal = "Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics",

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T1 - Attitudes of Optometrists in the UK and Ireland to Digital Eye Strain and Approaches to Assessment and Management

AU - Moore, Patrick

AU - Wolffsohn, James S.

AU - Sheppard, Amy

N1 - © 2021 The Authors. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of College of Optometrists. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

PY - 2021/11

Y1 - 2021/11

N2 - PurposeTo investigate the attitudes and understanding of optometrists in the UK and Ireland towards Digital Eye Strain (DES), and to examine related practice patterns.MethodsAn anonymous online questionnaire was developed, covering attitude and understanding of DES, examination of patients who may be experiencing DES and approaches to management options. The questionnaire was promoted to UK and Ireland optometrists via professional bodies and local and area optometric committees.Results406 responses were included in the analysis. Most respondents agreed that DES was an important concern for optometrists (88.9%). 91.4% reported they felt confident in discussing possible symptoms of DES and management options; this was weakly and negatively associated with number of years qualified (rs = −0.198, p ≤ 0.001). Estimations of the proportion of patients affected by DES were lower than reports in the literature (median 25%, IQR 10%–50%). Most respondents always (60.6%) or frequently (21.9%) inquired about device usage in routine case history taking, and also asked follow-up questions, although 29.3% only asked about the presence of symptoms half the time or less. Advising on regular breaks (84.0%), lubricants (55.7%) and environment/set up (69.2%) were felt to be extremely or very important by most respondents. Advising on specialist spectacle lenses, specifically blue filtering designs, was considered extremely or very important by 34.2% and 15.2%, respectively.ConclusionGiven the agreement that DES is a significant issue causing frequent and persistent symptoms, and practitioners reported high levels of confidence in discussing DES, patients can expect to receive advice on symptoms and management from their optometrist. Simple management strategies were felt to be most important to advise on, with more uncertainty linked to specialist spectacle lenses.

AB - PurposeTo investigate the attitudes and understanding of optometrists in the UK and Ireland towards Digital Eye Strain (DES), and to examine related practice patterns.MethodsAn anonymous online questionnaire was developed, covering attitude and understanding of DES, examination of patients who may be experiencing DES and approaches to management options. The questionnaire was promoted to UK and Ireland optometrists via professional bodies and local and area optometric committees.Results406 responses were included in the analysis. Most respondents agreed that DES was an important concern for optometrists (88.9%). 91.4% reported they felt confident in discussing possible symptoms of DES and management options; this was weakly and negatively associated with number of years qualified (rs = −0.198, p ≤ 0.001). Estimations of the proportion of patients affected by DES were lower than reports in the literature (median 25%, IQR 10%–50%). Most respondents always (60.6%) or frequently (21.9%) inquired about device usage in routine case history taking, and also asked follow-up questions, although 29.3% only asked about the presence of symptoms half the time or less. Advising on regular breaks (84.0%), lubricants (55.7%) and environment/set up (69.2%) were felt to be extremely or very important by most respondents. Advising on specialist spectacle lenses, specifically blue filtering designs, was considered extremely or very important by 34.2% and 15.2%, respectively.ConclusionGiven the agreement that DES is a significant issue causing frequent and persistent symptoms, and practitioners reported high levels of confidence in discussing DES, patients can expect to receive advice on symptoms and management from their optometrist. Simple management strategies were felt to be most important to advise on, with more uncertainty linked to specialist spectacle lenses.

KW - computer vision syndrome

KW - digital eye strain

KW - optometrists

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DO - 10.1111/opo.12887

M3 - Article

SN - 0275-5408

VL - 41

SP - 1165

EP - 1175

JO - Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics

JF - Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics

IS - 6

ER -

Attitudes of Optometrists in the UK and Ireland to Digital Eye Strain and Approaches to Assessment and Management

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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