To Explore the Prevalence of Self Reported Computer Vision Syndrome among Staff Working at Radiology Department in Healthcare Settings of Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

Computer vision syndrome is growing in importance as a public health issue, CVSaffects those people who spend a lot of time in front of digital gadgets such as computers and electronic devices (Alhasan &Aalam 2022).Radiologists are the medical professionals who specialize in diagnosis and treatment of diseases through the interpretation of medical images which include CT scans, X-rays, Ultrasound and MRI, so they are more prone to get CVS symptoms. The study aimed to assess the prevalence, particular symptoms and risk factors of CVS among staff working at radiology department in healthcare setting of Islamabad. This was a cross sectional study research which involved staff working at radiology department except non medical staff such as sanitary workers, administrators, coordinator and receptionists using consecutive sampling. A reliable validated CVS questionnaire was utilized to gather information on demographic characteristics, CVS symptoms, and preventive measures and frequency of CVS symptoms. The questionnaire was completed by 161 participants. The prevalence of CVS was 47.2%. Mild CVS symptoms was noticed in 36 participants (22.4%), moderate CVS symptoms was noticed among 25 participants (15.5%) and severe CVS symptoms was observed among 15 participants with 9.3%. the majority of the participants who had not experienced CVS symptoms was 82 with 50.9%.The significant effects of prolonged screen time including PACs, MRI and Ultrasound which were used to construct image, image interpretation and machine handling related to radiology practice, are the main reason of the prevalence of CVS.The common symptoms that they encounter the most were headache (70.9%), itching eyes (47.9%) and tearing eyes (50.3%). Most common preventive measures that participants utilized was taking regular breaks 31.7%, other was antireflective eye glasses 16.2%. In present research study staff working at radiology department had a 47.2% prevalence of CVS, which is quite significant frequency of CVS. To protect their vision and eye health, polices should be established which aimed to protect eye and vision health at workplace especially among healthcare professionals. Provide access to eye checkup in workplace and design workplaces ergonomically.