Digital devices; a boon or bane: Ocular and musculoskeletal manifestations during lockdown in COVID-19 pandemic among general population of North India

Introduction: During the lockdown in COVID-19 days, excessive usage of digital devices leads to various consequences of ocular and musculoskeletal problems, mainly in the form of computer vision syndrome (CVS) and repetitive strain injury (RSI). Objectives: The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of symptoms of CVS and RSI and their association between the duration of use of electronic devices among the general population of North India during the period of lockdown (March–May, 2020). Methodology: The present study was a cross-sectional, descriptive, population-based study conducted during the 2 months period of lockdown between April and May 2020. The general population of all age groups of North India who were using any form of digital device with internet connectivity was included in the study. Sample size of 255 was achieved. Convenience and snowball sampling technique was applied. Study tool was pretested, structured, self-administered online survey forms using the Google forms. Results: One or more symptoms of CVS were reported by 69% of the study population while 21.6% reported repetitive strain injuries. Around ten times significantly higher probability of having CVS was observed among those with more than 9 h of usage of electronic devices per day (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]; 9.94 [3.07–32.16]) as compared to those using it for < 2 h a day. Conclusions: It is the need of the hour that there should be extensive dissemination of information, education, and communication services regarding the symptoms of CVS and RSI and their preventive measures among the general population.