Abstract
Purpose :
To investigate the influences of smartphone use on ocular symptoms, quantity and quality of the tear film, and oxidative stress.
Methods :
In 50 eyes of 25 healthy volunteers, tear film break-up time (TBUT), Schirmer score, keratoepitheliopathy (KEP), and non-invasive TBUT (NIBUT) and tear meniscus height (TMH) measured by Keratograph 5M were evaluated. Subjective ocular fatigue evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS), computer vision score (CVS), ocular surface disease index (OSDI), and accommodative power were evaluated before and after the use of the smartphone. Oxidative stress markers such as 8-oxo-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), hexanoyl lysine (HEL), 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the tear film were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the conjunctival epithelium were measured by 2’,7’-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA). All measurements were evaluated at baseline, 1 hour, and 4 hours after the use of smartphone.
Results :
TBUT and NIBUT significantly decreased 4 hours after the use of smartphone (p=0.019, p=0.023). Schirmer score, KEP, TMH, and accommodative power showed no significant changes. Scores of OSDI, VAS, and fatigue, burning sense, and dryness of the CVS showed a significant increase at 1 and 4 hours after the use of smartphone compared with baseline (all p<0.01). In the analysis of oxidative stress markers, a concentration of HEL significantly increased 4 hours after the use of smartphone (p=0.026). The concentrations of the 8-OHdG, 4-HNE, and MDA showed no significant change. After 4 hours of smartphone use, the level of ROS significantly increased (p<0.001).
Conclusions :
The use of smartphone could not only aggravate subjective symptom indices such as OSDI, VAS, and CVS but also deteriorate the tear film quality and induce the oxidative stress in the tear film.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.