2024, Vol. 6, Issue 1, Part A

Background: Digital eye strain is a group of eye and vision related problems that results from prolonged usage of computers, tablets, e-readers, and cell phones. It also describes the inclusion of ocular, visual and musculoskeletal symptoms due to prolonged use of computers. Globally 60 million people using digital devices suffer from digital eye strain and an estimated 1 million each New Year. Prevalence of digital eye strain ranging from 5 to 65% has been reported in the pre COVID-19 era. With lockdown restrictions during the pandemic, outdoor activities were restricted for all age groups, and digital learning became the norm for almost 2 years. While the digital eye strain prevalence amongst children alone rose to 50 to 60%, the symptoms expanded to include recent onset esotropia and vengeance abnormalities as part of the digital eye strain spectrum.

Methodology: The research design selected to the study was descriptive cross-sectional study. The study was conducted among the mothers of children aged between 5 to 18 years visiting paediatrics OPD of SJMCH, Bangalore. A total 74 mothers were recruited using non-probability purposive sampling technique. A self-structured questionnaire was used to assess the awareness of digital eye strain among mothers. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: The findings showed that out of 74 mothers, 63.5% of mothers have inadequate awareness, 33.8% have moderately adequate awareness and 2.7% have adequate awareness. There was a significant association between awareness regarding digital eye strain and baseline variable age of mothers. And other baseline variables like educational status, occupation, type of family, family, income, number of children, age of children, use of digital devices and duration has no significant association with awareness.

Conclusion: The present study focuses on awareness regarding digital eye strain among mothers of children. The implications are given for various aspects like nursing practice, nursing administration, nursing education and nursing research. The study shows that out of 74 samples, the majority of them had an inadequate awareness regarding digital eye strain. This result emphasises that an improvement in awareness can help in better outcomes.