India, Computer Vision Syndrome Increases among Geeks
A recent study has found that computer scientists find it very difficult to concentrate on any off-screen objects, and 'even the faces of their loved ones' can cause eye strain among them.Researchers suggest that this could be because of the added stress of needing to 'make sense' of a third dimension after focusing on two-dimensional objects for hours.
Actually, this is just a joke doing its rounds among software engineers — concocted in all probability by a techie on a quick coffee break after endless hours of writing codes or fixing bugs. And in all probablity, this techie too suffers from an increasingly malicious problem called the computer vision syndrome.
Medical practioners say that computer vision syndrome is becoming increasingly common among computer users, especially those who spend a lot of time in front of their monitors or video display terminals (VDTs). Dr Mohan Rajan, medical director, Rajan Eye Care Hospital, a leading Chennai-based tertiary centre treating eye disorders recounts that when his institute conducted an eye checkup for around 1,000 software engineers from Infosys, it found about 750 of them had 'dry eye' problem.
'This is not a problem with the software engineers at Infosys alone, but spread across almost all IT companies,' he said. And it's the nature of an IT professional's job that leads to this problem.Dr Amar Agarwal, director, Dr Agarwal's Group of Eye Hospital, another leading centre in Chennai, points out that VDT users tend to have a very fixed posture — this means that the distance between the computer user and the VDT, and the direction of the gaze remain the same for long periods causing the entire upper body to remain in a fixed position for a long time.
Since the muscles in the eye don't get much opportunity to move, it causes visual and ocular discomfort. The other possible reasons for computer vision syndrome could be lack of image clarity, glare from reflections and lights, having to concentrate on work, not blinking or resting the eyes and uncorrected visual defects, Agarwal said.
Rajan explains: 'Normally we blink 15 times in a minute. But while working on computers, the blink rate comes down to 5 times a minute, resulting in the evaporation of fluids on the eye. This results in dry eye. For some, this may lead to severe headaches and in extreme cases even to depression.'
Other symptoms of CVS, besides dry eyes, include: tired eyes, eyestrain, sore eyes, periodic blurred near vision, occasional blurred distance vision, slowness in changing the focus of your eyes, red eyes, burning eyes, contact lens discomfort, changes in color perception, glare sensitivity, excessive neck, shoulder and back pain.
A quick survey of IT firms by ET showed that the companies are yet to treat computer vision syndrome as a serious issue. However, many software engineers are aware of the 'eye strain' caused by prolonged exposure to VDTs, if not about CVS itself. 'I remember seeing a mail from my friend about CVS.
I forgot most of it, except that it said it is better to take your eyes off your monitor once in a while and blink,' a software engineer said. That, doctors feel, will do in most of the cases.'The obvious solution to stillness is to move. One should take micropauses and focus on distant objects at regular intervals,' says Agarwal. Rajan agrees. 'We suggest a formula 20:20:20 to IT professionals. Every 20 minutes, for 20 seconds, blink 20 times,' he advises.
Besides, he said, the position of workstations also matter a lot. 'Ideally, it should not be against a wall, but have space behind the monitor allowing the users to relax by gazing at distant objects. Also, there are monitors whose radiation levels are much lower than the usual ones and are preferable,' he says.
However, faced with deadlines, software engineers are generally not in a position to follow this principle scrupulously. Both Agarwal and Rajan have tied up with IT firms, offering them packages that include eye checkup for the employees and their family members and also lecture sessions on eyecare. Agarwal has tied up with Polaris and Satyam Infocomm and Rajan with Triade Software.
There's another way companies, especially those abroad, have tackled this problem — it's by installing software that reminds the users to take a break. A Cornell University study by Prof Alan Hedge, professor of design and environmental analysis and director of human factors and ergonomics laboratory found that workers who used computer software to remind them occasionally to assume good posture, take short breaks and occasionally stretch do more accurate work and as a result are more productive. 'We found that alerting computer users to take short rests and breaks improved work accuracy without any reductions in overall keystroke and mouse use,' Prof Hedge is reported to have said.
There's another `solution' for dry eye problem, literally speaking. Doctors recommend ocular lubricants for computer users. Rajan remarks, 'One of the biggest beneficiaries of the growth in the IT industry, you could say, are the manufacturers of ocular lubricants. Thanks to IT lubricants sales have rocketed.'
