Practice Metrics

Your Patients’ Most Common Digital Eye Fatigue Issues?

Over two-thirds (69 percent) of digital media users responding to The Vision Council’s VisionWatch Digital Eye Fatigue special report say they have issues during prolonged use of digital media devices. The most common of these issues is neck and shoulder pain, along with eye strain, which each are experienced by about one-third of respondents. Dry eyes, blurred vision, or headaches are each experienced by about a fifth of respondents. Women reported experiencing issues far more commonly than men–between 6 percent and 16 percent higher. Most older adults, likely because of less prolonged use of digital media, report the fewest issues. All respondents required by their occupation to use digital media for more than two hours daily, those who typically use digital media more than six hours daily, as well as those using smart phones, game systems and tablets or e-readers, report more issues across the board.

This report is something that should make all of us sit up and take notice. Two-thirds of our patients using digital media are having issues during prolonged use. Let’s create an action plan based on this information.

1. Ask patients in the pre-exam history about digital media use at home and at work. What digital media is being used, and for how long, are necessary questions you need patients to answer.

2. Sit down with staff and create packaged solutions for the most common problems you are going to see. Include your spectacle, contact lens and pharmaceutical lab reps in this process.

3. Offer the solutions to every patient using digital media. Awareness is the first step in getting a patient to accept your treatment plan.

4. Track your effectiveness.

5. Identify areas where you can improve.

6. Make adjustments and continue tracking your effectiveness.

This is not a one-time exercise for the office. This is something we need to constantly improve because the use of digital media is going to increase, not decrease, over the next decade.

Let’s make sure we are meeting all the needs of our patients. Identifying and fixing digital media-related eye fatigue is definitely one area where we can make a significant impact.

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