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Computer vision syndrome in healthcare workers using video display terminals: an exploration of the risk factors
Author(s) -
ArtimeRíos Eva,
SuárezSánchez Ana,
SánchezLasheras Fernando,
SeguíCrespo Mar
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1111/jan.15140
Subject(s) - seniority , medicine , logistic regression , health care , cross sectional study , family medicine , occupational safety and health , occupational medicine , morning , odds ratio , occupational exposure , demography , environmental health , pathology , sociology , political science , law , economics , economic growth
Aims To estimate the prevalence of computer vision syndrome (CVS) in healthcare workers and its relationship to video display terminal (VDT) exposure, sociodemographic, optical correction and work characteristics, and to analyse whether there are differences among occupational groups. Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods A sample of 1179 physicians and surgeons, nurses, and nursing assistants from two hospitals in Spain between January 2017 and February 2018 were invited to participate in this study. Of these, 622 workers from both hospitals were finally included. CVS was measured using a questionnaire, the CVS‐Q © . Logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with CVS. All the results were stratified by occupational group. Results The prevalence of CVS was 56.75% with nurses being the most affected occupational group (61.75%). It was associated significantly with female sex (aOR = 2.57; 95% CI 1.36–4.88) and morning shifts plus on‐call (aOR = 2.33; 95% CI 1.11–4.88) in the physicians and surgeons group. Among the nurses, it was associated with female sex (aOR = 2.35; 95% CI 1.03–5.37), seniority between 10 and 20 years (aOR = 2.17; 95% CI 1.03–4.59), VDT exposure at work of 2–4 h/day (aOR = 6.14; 95% CI 1.08–35.02), VDT exposure at work >4 h/day (aOR = 7.14; 95% CI 1.29–39.62) and self‐perception that using the software application was not easy (aOR = 2.49; 95% CI 1.23–5.01). Conclusions A high prevalence of CVS among healthcare workers was observed. The risk factors that increased the likelihood of suffering from this syndrome depended on the occupation. Impact The findings may be used as a reference for occupational health services to implement specific preventive measures to reduce CVS for each occupational group. Such measures should consider both individual factors and the working conditions.