Prevalence and correlates of computer vision syndrome in Hong Kong

Background: Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) refers a collection of vision and musculoskeletal symptoms that are related to prolonged computer use. Previous studies had mainly been conducted in Western populations prior to explosive growth of the internet and no surveys of CVS have been conducted in an Asian population. Methods: In 2010, a telephone survey was conducted on 670 Hong Kong adults (18-60 yrs of age,(response rate = 66.1%). This study examined the general pattern of CVS and severity of symptoms by user characteristics and computer use patterns. Results: After age-standardization, approximately two-thirds of Hong Kong's adult population (18-60 yrs) had at least one vision symptom related to computer use . Among computer users, 9% of males and 16% of female computer users reported vision problems severe enough to affect their daily life. The most common vision-related complaints were tired eyes (67.7%), dry eyes (33.1%) and headache (17.8%). Of computer users, over 60% reported musculoskeletal symptoms (neck pain: 49.5%, shoulder pain: 47.2%, back pain: 40.8%). Although the unadjusted analyses showed that factors such as computer game playing were associated with CVS vision symptoms, only daily computer hours, female gender, heavy text-based computer use and astigmatism were associated with greater risk of CVS vision symptoms whereas wearing eye glasses was a protective factor in the multivariate analyses. Screen size and computer type (laptop or desktop) had no association with CVS. Conclusion: CVS is extremely prevalent among Hong Kong Chinese adults that may foreshadow similar trends in less developed mainland Chinese cities.