Playing for an hour on a smartphone is enough to cause dry eyes in young people.
- Smartphone games induce dry eyes and reduce blinking in children and adolescents.
- A single hour of play is enough to trigger these two phenomena.
- In the long term, these two phenomena can have negative impacts on visual health.
Smartphone gaming induces dry eyes and reduces blinking in children and adolescents, a new study suggests. In the long term, these two phenomena can have negative impacts on visual health.
Dry eyes: children are increasingly using smartphones to play
During the first decades of the 21st century, the prevalence of digital device use among children increased dramatically. Among these devices, smartphones are the most used. In the United States, 83% of children already own one by the age of 15, a similar trend in France.
The study involved 36 young people aged 6 to 15, all recruited in Sydney, Australia.
To participate in the study, the children visited the researchers’ laboratory, where they were asked to play games on an iPhone 5 for an uninterrupted hour. The games selected were Despicable Me:, Minion Rush and Racing Penguin.
Before and during the game, participants wore headphones to monitor their eyes. Participants also completed three questionnaires to assess their potential eye symptoms.
The results showed that the function of the tear film did not change during the experiment. On the other hand, ocular symptoms stood out considerably.
An hour of smartphone gaming reduces blinking
Blinks actually decreased significantly during the first minute of gaming on a smartphone. Before the study began, participants blinked about 21 times per minute on average. During gameplay, this rate was just under 9 blinks per minute.
The time interval between two blinks also increased, from 3 seconds before the game to just under 9 seconds during the first minute of play. It remained unchanged for the duration of the game.
“Smartphone use in children results in dry eyes and immediate slowing of blinking, with no obvious change in tear function. Given the ubiquitous use of smartphones by children, future work should examine whether the effects reported here persist or worsen over the longer term, causing cumulative damage to the ocular surface. conclude the authors of the study.
Their articletitled “Smartphone gaming induces dry eye symptoms and reduces blinking in school-aged children”, was written by Ngozi Charity Chidi-Egboka, Isabelle Jalbert and Blanka Golebiowski.
