Prevalence and Predictors of Digital Eyestrain among undergraduates in Universities, Rivers State Nigeria

The extensive reliance among undergraduates on digital electronic devices for leisure, academic and non-academic purposes and the recent diagnosis of age related ocular disorders among youths necessitated this study which investigated the prevalence and predictors of digital eyestrain (DES) among undergraduates in universities, Rivers state Nigeria. Eight (8) objectives, eight(8) research questions and seven (7) hypotheses were raised and tested. This investigation adopted a descriptive clinic based study design using a sample size of 425 student derived using Fischer formula from a two-stage sampling procedure. The instrument for data collection includes standard ophthalmic equipment while data collection was done by licensed eye care practitioners. Data collected were analyzed using Statistical Product for Service Solution (SPSS) version 20.0. The result of the study showed that 111 (26.1%) students did not experience any DES symptoms, 188 (44.2%) experienced mild DES, 73 (17.2%) experienced moderate DES while 53 (12.5%) experienced severe DES symptoms thus aggregating to an overall DES prevalence of 73.9%. In regards to predictors for DES, the study reported that 32.3% of DES symptoms can be predicted from family ocular history,0.5% of DES symptoms can be predicated on the nature of digital device, 44.6% of DES symptoms from screen time 64.2% of DES was predicated on preexisting eye defect of the subject, 2.7% of DES on age while 1.2% of DES attributed to gender. In addition, correlation analysis at 0.05 level of significance (p < 0.05) revealed a statistically significant association between family oculr history (r= -0.176, p = 0.000, df = 423), screen time (r = -0’576, p = 0.000, df = 423) , preexisting eye defect (r = -0.256, p = 0.000, df = 423), age (r = -0.166. p = 0.001, df = 423) as well as gender (r = 0.133, p = 0.005, df = 423) and DES related symptoms among undergraduates in universities Rivers state Nigeria.. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between the type of digital device (r = 0.068, p = 0.163. df = 423) or course of study (r= 0.058, p = 0.153, df = 423) and DES related symptoms among undergraduates in universities Rivers state Nigeria, The study concluded that the combined prevalence of digital eyestrain was 73.9% while about 26.1% of the subjects did not experience any remarkable DES symptom,. The study concluded that the dominant predictors of DES were family ocular history, screen time, preexisting eye defects while, age, gender, type of preferred digital device and course of study contributed less significantly and recommends that undergraduate students should prioritize their ocular health by reducing screen time, correcting visual defects and periodic eye examination.