BACKGROUND

Asthenopia, eye strain, occurs with prolonged use of digital devices and causes symptoms such as blurred vision and headaches. Its prevalence is increasing among university students and office workers; studies report a prevalence of 50-90%, with screen use and ergonomic factors in particular appearing to increase the risk.

AIMS

This study investigated the prevalence of asthenopia and associated risk factors among university students in Turkey.

METHODS

A web-based survey was administered to 547 students, and 234 met the inclusion criteria. Statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS 29.0 package program. Frequency and percentage distributions of variables were analyzed in descriptive statistics. First, the prevalence of asthenopia was investigated. Participants who showed any of the symptoms of blurred vision, dry eyes, redness in the eyes, pain in the eyes, itching in the eyes, and eye fatigue were defined as patients with asthenopia, and participants who did not show them were described as "patients without asthenopia." Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to identify variables that most contributed to asthenopia. The study evaluated the significance level based on a value of 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval.

RESULTS

Results showed that 75.6% of participants experienced asthenopia; the most common symptom was eyestrain (37.6%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that women were 3.385 times more likely to develop asthenopia than men. Wearing glasses increased the risk by 4,645 times compared to not wearing corrective lenses. Interestingly, while using digital devices for studying had a protective effect, recreational use for more than 2 hours significantly increased the risk.

CONCLUSION

The high prevalence of asthenopia among digital device users highlights the need for targeted interventions. The protective effect of work-related device use and the increased risk from recreational use provide fundamental information for developing strategies to reduce eye strain.