Digital eye strain symptoms worsen during prolonged digital tasks, associated with a reduction in productivity

Abstract

Purpose: It is often stated that digital eye strain can impact productivity and/or work accuracy, but the relationship between symptoms, productivity, and work accuracy has been unclear. Hence this study tracked the development of visuo-ocular symptoms during prolonged digital tasks and to explore the impact of higher and lower cognitive load levels on visuo-ocular symptoms, productivity, and work accuracy. Methods: Thirty-five participants (23.2 ± 4.0 years) who had digital eye strain (diagnosed with the Computer Vision Syndrome Questionnaire) undertook an uninterrupted laptop adapted Eriksen Flanker task for 60 min on two separate days, once with a high cognitive load in randomised sequence. Symptoms were assessed at baseline and every 10 min throughout the task. Results: All visuo-ocular symptom scores significantly worsened (F = 87.783, p < 0.001) with time, with the symptom severity increasing faster with the higher cognitive load (F = 7.110, p < 0.001). The mean total number of tasks completed was greater for the lower (1060.8 ± 296.5) than the higher (532.2 ± 123.4) cognitive load tasks (F = 138.830, p < 0.001), reducing with time (F = 7.339, p < 0.001), but in a similar way for both cognitive loads (F = 1.795, p = 0.154). Task accuracy was not affected by the cognitive load of the task (F = 1.729, p = 0.197) and was consistent over time (F = 1.885, p = 0.135). Conclusions: Symptoms increased with task duration in individuals with digital eye strain, with a faster rate for more demanding tasks. This was associated with a decrease in the task completion rate (productivity), but not the work accuracy.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100489
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Optometry & Vision Science Research Group (OVSRG)
College of Health & Life Sciences
College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Optometry
Aston University (General)
Additional Information: Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Uncontrolled Keywords: Cognitive load,Computer vision syndrome,Digital devices,Digital eye strain,Productivity,Symptoms,Work accuracy,Neuroscience (miscellaneous),Applied Psychology,Human-Computer Interaction,Computer Science Applications,Cognitive Neuroscience,Artificial Intelligence
Publication ISSN: 2451-9588
Last Modified: 02 Dec 2024 09:08
Date Deposited: 25 Oct 2024 14:23
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://www.sci ... 451958824001222 (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2024-12
Published Online Date: 2024-09-24
Accepted Date: 2024-09-19
Authors: Beeson, Danielle
Wolffsohn, James S. (ORCID Profile 0000-0003-4673-8927)
Baigum, Thameena
Qureshi, Talaal
Gohil, Serena
Wahid, Rozia
Sheppard, Amy L. (ORCID Profile 0000-0003-0035-8267)

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