Dry Eyes and Video Display Terminals

Abstract

To the Editor: Many persons report ocular fatigue after prolonged work at video display terminals, in part prompting legislation regulating the use of these terminals 1 . Since one of the main causes of ocular fatigue is dry eyes, we hypothesized that this type of work exacerbates drying of the ocular surface. The ocular surface is normally covered with a tear film composed of lipid, aqueous, and mucin layers, spread by each blink of the eye. We studied several factors affecting tear dynamics in 104 healthy office workers (45 men and 59 women; age range, 20 to 69 years), about half… © 1993, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.