Digital eye strain:Prevalence, measurement and amelioration

Digital device usage has increased substantially in recent years across all age groups, so that extensive daily use for both social and professional purposes is now normal. Digital eye strain (DES), also known as computer vision syndrome, encompasses a range of ocular and visual symptoms, and estimates suggest its prevalence may be 50% or more among computer users. Symptoms fall into two main categories: those linked to accommodative or binocular vision stress, and external symptoms linked to dry eye. Although symptoms are typically transient, they may be frequent and persistent, and have an economic impact when vocational computer users are affected. DES may be identified and measured using one of several available questionnaires, or objective evaluations of parameters such as critical flicker–fusion frequency, blink rate and completeness, accommodative function and pupil characteristics may be used to provide indices of visual fatigue. Correlations between objective and subjective measures are not always apparent. A range of management approaches exist for DES including correction of refractive error and/or presbyopia, management of dry eye, incorporating regular screen breaks and consideration of vergence and accommodative problems. Recently, several authors have explored the putative role of blue light-filtering spectacle lenses on treating DES, with mixed results. Given the high prevalence of DES and near-universal use of digital devices, it is essential that eye care practitioners are able to provide advice and management options based on quality research evidence

A Review of the Empirical Literature on the Relationships Between Indoor Environment and Stress in Health Care and Office Settings Problems and Prospects of Sharing Evidence

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The original publication can be found at http://eab.sagepub.com.A conceptual framework linking indoor environment and stress is provided. The framework suggests that, in many cases, indoor environments may set forth a process leading to stress by affecting individual and/or workplace needs. The framework also suggests that because any direct causal relation between indoor environment and stress may be difficult to establish, researchers should focus more on the evidence that links indoor environment to individual and/or workplace needs. This review focuses primarily on the evidence that relates indoor environment to individual and/or workplace needs in health care and office settings. It shows a growing body of literature addressing these relationships in both settings. However, because the available evidence is uneven, there is a great need for the sharing of knowledge among researchers of these settings. In this regard, differences in organizational factors, user and workplace needs, and physical settings are some issues that need to be carefully considered

Thermal and indoor air quality effects on physiological responses, perception and performance of tropically acclimatized people

Ph.DNUS-DTU JOINT PH.D

Work Life 2000 Yearbook 2: 2000

This volume reported the proceedings of a series of international research workshops in 1999, funded by the Swedish National Institute for Working Life, in preparation for the Swedish Presidency of the European Union in 2001

Stress and ill health associated with fungi, indoor environmental factors and personal factors in hospitals.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Abstract available in PDF

Preventing Illness and Injury in the Workplace

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "examines three main topics: identification of occupational hazards, including the available data on injuries and illnesses; development of control technologies for reducing or eliminating workplace hazards; and the incentives and imperatives that influence decisions to control hazards" (p. iii)

Worker and Public Health and Safety

This book on "Worker and Public Health and Safety: Current Views" brings together current scholarly work and opinions in the form of original papers and reviews related to this field of study. It provides important and recent scientific reading as well as topical medical and occupational information and research in areas of immediate relevance, such as chronic and occupational diseases, worker safety and performance, job strain, workload, injuries, accident and errors, risks and management, fitness, burnout, psychological and mental disorders including stress, therapy, job satisfaction, musculoskeletal symptoms and pain, socio-economic factors, dust pollution, pesticides, noise, pathogens, and related areas

An assessment of indoor environmental quality and occupant physiological factors for the development of an enhanced post occupancy evaluation model (ePOE)

Indoor environment quality (IEQ) has with previous research been proven to affect occupant health, well - being and productivity. Our research however seeks to understand uniquely these IEQ factors and the possible relationship between the occupant and building environment. The intelligent design & operation of commercial offices offers a potential opportunity to close the building energy performance gap, but only if we understand discretely the relationship between the occupant and building workplace. Using sensory feedback devices worn by the occupant, discrete IEQ measurements and Post Occupancy Evaluation (PoE) responses, we focus upon analysing two workplaces in Bracknell and Manchester. Initial research suggests a lack of defined IEQ standards exists within the UK, therefore this research seeks to explore opportunities to develop such guidance using field and analytical review. The research considers the physiological effects of the built environment across x8 volunteers focussing upon stress measurements, skin temperatures, heart rate, breathing rate and blood oxygen level. The hypothesis of research proposes, that the built environment has specific effects on an individual’s physiological responses inclusive of subjective and objective responses gained from surveys and interviews developed to test current awareness of these relationships and their importance. The research concludes that these relationships are periodic and seasonal, demonstrating daily and weekly patterns exist across individual samples at x2 UK locations, whereby the individual volunteer’s responses can be considered to correlate across the analysed data

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A cumulative index to the 1982 issues

This publication is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in the Supplements 229 through 240 of Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing Bibliography. It includes three indexes: subject, personal author, and corporate source

New tools in dry eye disease research: a more efficient clinical trial design using controled environment and molecular biomarkers, and a new clinical questionnaire

The main aims of this doctoral thesis were 3: 1) to study the usefulness of a new two-step design of clinical trials using a controlled environment chamber to evaluate the safety and efficacy of new dry eye disease (DED) therapies; 2) to evaluate the effect of a common DED therapy on clinical symptoms and signs and tear inflammatory molecule levels at different time points (i.e. pre- and post-treatment, pre- and post-adverse environmental condition [ACE; 23°C temperature, 5% relative humidity, 0.43 m/s localized airflow] exposure), identifying different biomarkers (disease severity, therapeutic efficacy, and disease activity); 3) to analyze why clinical symptoms usually fail at translating what patients feel and to develop a new and simpler questionnaire that can detect changes in DED-related symptoms between two time-points in an easier and yet more accurate way than the current questionnaires. Methodology: To meet the first and second aims, a single-center, double masked, randomized, vehicle-controlled, phase II clinical trial was conducted, assessing the efficacy of topical 0.1%-fluorometholone in moderate-to-severe DED patients for ameliorating the worsening of the ocular surface when exposed to an adverse environment. A total of 41 patients randomly received one drop 4 times daily of either topical 0.1%-fluorometholone (FML group) or polyvinyl alcohol (PA group) for 22 days. During the 4 visits of the study (V1, day 0, baseline / V2; day 21, pre-ACE exposure / V3, day 21, post-ACE exposure / V4, day 22, 24h post-ACE exposure) DED signs and symptoms were evaluated. Also, tear samples were collected at the beginning of each visit for further analysis. An immune bead-based array analyzed the concentrations of 18 molecules (EGF, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-1RA, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8/CXCL8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-17A, IP10/CXCL10, MCP-1/CCL2, MIP-1α/CCL3, RANTES/CCL5 and MMP-9).Instituto Universitario de Oftalmobiología AplicadaDoctorado en Ciencias de la Visió