Problematic Internet Use Associated with Symptomatic Dry Eye Disease in Medical Students from Peru

Figures & data

Table 1 General Characteristics of Population of Study

Variables	Overall	Men	Women	p
	(n=844)	(n=301)	(n=543)
Age (years)	21.8 ± 3.3	22.2 ± 4.0	21.6 ± 2.9	0.005
Frequency of alcohol intake
Each year	63 (7.46%)	26 (8.64%)	37 (6.81%)	0.002
Each month	99 (11.7%)	47 (15.6%)	52 (9.58%)
Every week	69 (8.18%)	29 (9.63%)	40 (7.37%)
No alcohol consumption	613 (72.6%)	199 (66.1%)	414 (76.2%)
Frequency of smoking
Each month	25 (2.96%)	12 (3.99%)	13 (2.39%)	0.056
Every week	6 (0.71%)	5 (1.66%)	1 (0.18%)
Every day	1 (0.12%)	0 (0.00%)	1 (0.18%)
Non-smoker	812 (96.2%)	284 (94.4%)	528 (97.2%)
Screen exposure time per day
<3 h	17 (2.0)	10 (3.3)	7 (1.3)	0.022
3–6 h	264 (31.3)	105 (34.9)	159 (29.3)
>6 h	563 (66.7)	186 (61.8)	377 (69.4)
Intermittent Internet rest
<3h	535 (63.4%)	201 (66.8%)	334 (61.5%)	0.197
3–5h	111 (13.2%)	38 (12.6%)	73 (13.4%)
>5h	19 (2.25%)	6 (1.99%)	13 (2.39%)
No rest	179 (21.2%)	56 (18.6%)	123 (22.7%)
Use of blue-light blocking spectacle lenses
Yes	433 (51.3)	140 (46.5)	293 (54.0)	0.045
No	411 (48.7)	161 (53.5)	250 (46.0)
Use of screen light filter
Yes	275 (32.6)	107 (35.5)	168 (30.9)	0.196
No	569 (67.4)	194 (64.5)	375 (69.1)
Display brightness
Dull	67 (7.9)	18 (6.0)	49 (9.0)	0.068
Very dull	391 (46.3)	130 (43.2)	261 (48.1)
Bright	346 (41.0)	134 (44.5)	212 (39.0)
Very bright	40 (4.7)	19 (6.3)	21 (3.9)
Display viewing distance
< 40 cm	480 (56.9)	134 (44.5)	346 (63.7)	<0.001
40–76 cm	343 (40.6)	159 (52.8)	184 (33.9)
>76 cm	21 (2.5)	8 (2.7)	13 (2.4)
Room lighting
Dark	17 (2.0)	5 (1.7)	12 (2.2)	0.24
Low light	176 (20.9)	71 (23.6)	105 (19.3)
Illuminated	537 (63.6)	192 (63.8)	345 (63.5)
Very illuminated	114 (13.5)	33 (11.0)	81 (14.9)
Most used device
Phone	446 (52.8%)	154 (51.2%)	292 (53.8%)	0.832
PC or laptop	387 (45.9%)	143 (47.5%)	244 (44.9%)
Tablet	10 (1.18%)	4 (1.33%)	6 (1.10%)
Television	1 (0.12%)	0 (0.00%)	1 (0.18%)
PIU
Controlled	720 (85.3)	248 (82.4)	472 (86.9)	0.093
Uncontrolled	124 (14.7)	53 (17.6)	71 (13.1)
SDED
Yes	598 (70.9)	201 (66.8)	397 (73.1)	0.063
No	246 (29.1)	100 (33.2)	146 (26.9)

Note: Data shown as mean ± SD or absolute frequency (%).

Abbreviations: PIU, problematic internet use; SDED, symptomatic dry eye disease.

Table 2 Characteristics of the Population by Symptomatic Dry Eye Disease and Sex

Variables	Men			Women
	Non-SDED (n=100)	SDED	p	No-SDED (n=146)	SDED	p
		(n=201)			(n=397)
Age (years)	22.0 ± 3.7	22.3 ± 4.1	0.617	21.3 ± 2.6	21.6 ± 3.0	0.242
Frequency of alcohol intake
Each year	10 (38.5%)	16 (61.5%)	0.506	8 (21.6%)	29 (78.4%)	0.733
Each month	12 (25.5%)	35 (74.5%)		15 (28.8%)	37 (71.2%)
Every week	8 (27.6%)	21 (72.4%)		13 (32.5%)	27 (67.5%)
No alcohol consumption	70 (35.2%)	129 (64.8%)		110 (26.6%)	304 (73.4%)
Frequency of smoking
Each month	4 (33.3%)	8 (66.7%)	0.485	3 (23.1%)	10 (76.9%)	0.573
Every week	3 (60.0%)	2 (40.0%)		0 (0.00%)	1 (100%)
Every day	0 (0.00%)	0 (0.00%)		1 (100%)	0 (0.00%)
Non-smoker	93 (32.7%)	191 (67.3%)		142 (26.9%)	386 (73.1%)
Screen exposure time per day
<3 h	4 (40.0)	6 (60.0)	0.895	2 (28.6)	5 (71.4)	0.655
3–6 h	35 (33.3)	70 (66.7)		47 (29.6)	112 (70.4)
>6 h	61 (32.8)	125 (67.2)		97 (25.7)	280 (74.3)
Intermittent Internet rest
<3h	71 (35.3%)	130 (64.7%)	0.076	92 (27.5%)	242 (72.5%)	0.987
3–5h	16 (42.1%)	22 (57.9%)		19 (26.0%)	54 (74.0%)
>5h	2 (33.3%)	4 (66.7%)		3 (23.1%)	10 (76.9%)
No rest	11 (19.6%)	45 (80.4%)		32 (26.0%)	91 (74.0%)
Use of blue-light blocking spectacle lenses
Yes	35 (25.0)	105 (75.0)	0.007	69 (23.5)	224 (76.5)	0.072
No	65 (40.4)	96 (59.6)		77 (30.8)	173 (69.2)
Use of screen light filter
Yes	45 (42.1)	62 (57.9)	0.022	49 (29.2)	119 (70.8)	0.486
No	55 (28.4)	139 (71.6)		97 (25.9)	278 (74.1)
Display brightness
Dull	9 (50.0)	9 (50.0)	0.025	15 (30.6)	34 (69.4)	0.103
Very dull	50 (38.5)	80 (61.5)		81 (31.0)	180 (69.0)
Bright	39 (29.1)	95 (70.9)		46 (21.7)	166 (78.3)
Very bright	2 (10.5)	17 (89.5)		4 (19.0)	17 (81.0)
Display viewing distance
< 40 cm	46 (34.3)	88 (65.7)	0.518	85 (24.6)	261 (75.4)	0.222
40–76 cm	50 (31.4)	109 (68.6)		56 (30.4)	128 (69.6)
>76 cm	4 (50.0)	4 (50.0)		5 (38.5)	8 (61.5)
Room lighting
Dark	1 (20.0)	4 (80.0)	0.231	2 (16.7)	10 (83.3)	0.79
Low light	25 (35.2)	46 (64.8)		26 (24.8)	79 (75.2)
Illuminated	68 (35.4)	124 (64.6)		95 (27.5)	250 (72.5)
Very illuminated	6 (18.2)	27 (81.8)		23 (28.4)	58 (71.6)
Most used device:
Phone	53 (34.4%)	101 (65.6%)	0.886	90 (30.8%)	202 (69.2%)	0.082
PC or laptop	46 (32.2%)	97 (67.8%)		54 (22.1%)	190 (77.9%)
Tablet	1 (25.0%)	3 (75.0%)		2 (33.3%)	4 (66.7%)
Television	0 (0.00%)	0 (0.00%)		0 (0.00%)	1 (100%)
PIU
Controlled	92 (37.1)	156 (62.9)	0.003	132 (28.0)	340 (72.0)	0.188
Uncontrolled	8 (15.1)	45 (84.9)		14 (19.7)	57 (80.3)

Note: Data shown as mean ± SD or absolute frequency (%).

Abbreviations: PIU, problematic internet use; SDED, symptomatic dry eye disease.

Figure 1 Percentage of symptomatic DED by degree of intensity in people with and without PIU or IA.

Table 3 Poisson Regression Models of Problematic Use of Internet and Symptomatic Dry Eye Disease in Medical Students

Symptomatic DED	PR	(CI95%)	p-value
Overall
Model 1^a	1.19	(1.08–1.31)	0.000*
Model 2^b	1.17	(1.06–1.29)	0.002*
Men
Model 1^a	1.35	(1.16–1.57)	0.000*
Model 2^c	1.27	(1.09–1.49)	0.002*
Women
Model 1^a	1.11	(0.98–1.27)	0.098
Model 2^c	1.12	(0.99–1.28)	0.081

Notes: ^aNon-adjusted. ^bAdjusted by sex, age, frequency of smoking and alcohol intake, intermittent Internet rest, screen time per day. ^cAdjusted by age, frequency of smoking and alcohol intake, intermittent Internet rest, screen time per day. *p<0.05, statistically significant.