Do background luminance levels or character size effect the eye blink rate during Visual Display Unit (VDU) work - Comparing young adults with presbyopes?

Abstract

Eye blink rate for 19 healthy young adult volunteers (non-presbyopic) (15 females, 4 males; mean age 21.1, SD 5.9 years, range 19 to 29 years) were measured while working at an optimised VDU work station with two different character sizes (8 and 12 points Times New Roman). Two background luminance levels (approx. 100 cd/m2 and 6000 cd/m2) were used as glare sources. A marked reduction in eye blink rate from approx. 24 blinks per minute during easy conversation in between VDU work sessions to approx. 5 blinks per minute during active visually demanding VDU work was found. The results were compared with the results from a previoues similar study on 16 healthy presbyopic volunteers (8 females, 8 males; mean age 57.1 SD 7.2 years, range 46 to 67 years) [1]. For both groups a marked reduction in eye blink rate was found for VDU work compared with a rest situation. This was true whether the character size on the screen was "normal" (12 points) or fairly small (8 points), or whether the work was done under good and recommended visual conditions, or under a glare situation. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.