Change in visual function and viewing distance during work with VDTs

Seven female volunteer bank clerks aged between 24 and 32 yr were selected for a laboratory trial after a preliminary ocular examination which showed them to be emmetropic or slightly myopic (less than or equal to 1D) and to have normal ocular motility or only minor deficiencies. Near and far point refraction and phorias and near point fusional vergences were measured before and immediately after a 6 h workday at a PC workstation. Eye screen distance (viewing distance) was monitored. Near and far distance refraction showed an increase and a decrease of accommodation in 13 out of 14 eyes respectively. Fusional convergence decreased in six out of seven cases: a smaller decrease in divergence was recorded in all subjects. These changes were statistically significant. Viewing distance, though showing some interindividual differences, increased considerably during the last 2 h of the trial, without reaching statistical significance.