Clinical evaluation of subjective and objective signs of asthenopia

Background. Working with modern electronic means of displaying information places increased demands on the functional state of the user’s visual analyzer. Prolonged work with electronic devices leads to the accumulation of visual fatigue, habitual excessive stress of accommodation, the development of asthenopia and other signs of computer visual syndrome. In the future, functional visual impairment can lead to the formation of late myopia and the progression of previously developed myopia. Purpose. To investigate the subjective and objective signs of asthenopia in people of working age. Material and methods. The assessment of subjective signs of asthenopia in people of working age (n = 72) during preventive medical examinations was carried out. There were 60 men (83.3%) and 12 women (16.7%) among them. The age of the examined persons was 39.2+8.9 years (18; 63), the working time with electronic devices was more than 3 hours per day. The scope of the examination included: collection of complaints about the state of the visual organ and from the spine with filling out special questionnaires, collection of an ophthalmological history with clarification of the year of refraction formation, determination of visual acuity without correction and with optical correction, autorefractometry. Results. Asthenopic complaints were presented by 94.4% of the examined persons. In 70.2% of cases, complaints were presented from both the visual analyzer and the spine. Statistically significant correlations were found between asthenopic complaints and spinal complaints. Among the surveyed population, there was a wide prevalence of myopia (90.3%) and habitually-excessive accommodation strain (9.7%). The proportion of late myopia was 56.9%. Conclusion.The conducted research has shown the need for preventive measures and the appointment of optical correction for working distances.