Ngozi Chidi-Egboka OD, MPH, FNCO, FAAO trained as a clinical Optometrist and Lecturer in Nigeria before enrolling to undertake her PhD at UNSW Sydney. Ngozi’s research interest is the ocular surface in children.Download the poster (.pdf), which was originally shared at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting, 2021.
Recently presented at ARVO 2021, publication of the full paper version of this research is expected soon. Smartphone use by children is increasing rapidly, but the ocular impacts are unknown. This study examined the effect of one hour of smartphone use on symptoms, tear film and blinking in children.
The study outcome showed that blinking in children can be successfully assessed in situ using a wearable eye tracking device. Smartphone use quickly resulted in dry eye symptoms and slowed the blink rate by one-third within 10 minutes, with much longer open eye periods between blinks. In the short-term, this was not accompanied by disturbances to the tear film.
