Radiologists spend a large portion of their workday staring at images on monitors and it's contributing to widespread digital eye strain across the profession, regardless of subspecialty.
At least that’s the case among nearly 200 radiologists practicing across hospitals in eastern Saudi Arabia. A majority of these experts were under 40 years old and just over half said they experienced symptoms of digital eye strain over the past year—such as irritated eyes, ocular fatigue, and headaches—among other discomforts.
And after adjusting for multiple variables, being a woman and not taking frequent breaks were both associated with higher rates of visual strain, the authors reported June 9 in Academic Radiology.
“With the advent of the picture archiving and communication system, computers have become a fundamental component of clinical radiology. Moreover, the workload of radiologists has substantially increased with advancements in medical technology,” said Omran Al Dandan, MD, with Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and colleagues.
“Consequently, radiologists spend long durations in front of computer screens, thereby, becoming subject to digital eye strain,” they added.
As part of their research, Dandan et al. sent an online survey to 198 participants, querying for demographic information, workload and workstation environment, personal eye care, and evaluating eye strain symptoms. Seventy-one percent of respondents were below age 40 and most spent 7 to 9 hours a day looking at medical images.
Overall, one-quarter said they only take a break once a day; and not taking more frequent breaks was found to be an independent risk factor for digital eye strain.
Additionally, 26.8% claimed to have had an eye exam within the past year, with 50.5% reporting symptoms of digital eye strain.
More than half of the radiologists in the study had workstations equipped with adjustable height and viewing, an “essential” part of an imaging professional’s workspace, the authors wrote. These individuals also self-reported lower rates of visual strain symptoms, they added.
The symptoms of eye discomfort were much more prevalent among the 87 women included in the study. They had a nearly four-times higher risk of tired, burning or irritated eyes, along with additional symptoms compared to their male colleagues. Dandan et al. guessed at a number of reasons for this, including higher evaporation of a key liquid protective layer in women’s eyes.
Radiology residents also experienced more eye pain compared to senior registrars and imaging consultants, the authors found, hypothesizing that this may be due to their limited interpretation experience.
The researchers suggest taking more frequent breaks, using eye drops and maintaining a normal blink rate to help combat visual eye strain.
Smartphones and personal computers are also drivers of eye discomfort, but were not addressed in this study—a “major limitation”—the group noted.
“Further research is needed with [a] larger and more comprehensive sample to confirm these findings and explore the gender differences in the digital eyes strain symptoms; this may enable stakeholders to design gender-specific interventional strategies to reduce eye strain,” Dandan and colleagues concluded.
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.