RESUMEN
Background: The increase in online learning during the pandemic has been linked to various ocular complaints. This study determined the prevalence and factors associated with ocular complaints among schoolchildren aged 12-19 years during the COVID-19 lockdown in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and May 2021, during the COVID-19 lockdown in T&T among secondary school students studying remotely. A two-stage cluster sampling method was employed. A modified web-based Computer Vision Syndrome questionnaire was administered to students. Data on demography, duration of digital device use, and ocular complaints were collected, and multilevel logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with ocular complaints among school children, 12-19 years of age in T&T. Results: A total of 435 schoolchildren (mean age, standard deviation, 15.2 ± 1.9 years range 12-19 years) responded to the questionnaire. The prevalence of self-reported symptoms of headache, blurred vision, dry eyes, itchy eyes, and double vision were 75.0%, 65.1%; 56.8%; 46.4%; and 33.5%, respectively. Schoolchildren aged 18-19 years, those that used spectacles for correction of their refractive errors, and spent more than 6 h on average on digital devices, reported a high prevalence of any ocular complaints. Analysis also revealed that age (14-15 years) was associated with dry eyes, blurred vision, and headaches, while gender (more prevalently females) was associated with blurred vision and headache. Those that had an eye examination in the last year and schoolchildren that took action to resolve ocular complaints were more likely to experience nearly all ocular complaints. Conclusions: During the COVID-19 lockdown, over three in four students in T&T reported ocular complaints from digital devices for online learning. Tailored interventional messages to reduce all forms of ocular complaints should target older students, particularly females, those who laid down when learning online via their devices and people who regularly examine their eyes.
Asunto(s)
COVID-19 , Instrucción por Computador , Educación a Distancia , Niño , Femenino , Humanos , Adolescente , Adulto Joven , Adulto , COVID-19/epidemiología , Prevalencia , Estudios Transversales , Trinidad y Tobago/epidemiología , Control de Enfermedades Transmisibles , Trastornos de la Visión/epidemiología , Cefalea/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
O avanço tecnológico tem transformado nossas relações. Os aparelhos digitais e suas linguagens mediam nosso contato com o outro e com o mundo. Entre as linguagens presentes nesses aparelhos, está a icônica. A criança, também usuária desses aparelhos, faz uso desta linguagem e abre espaço para reflexões. Nesse sentido, objetivamos analisar o uso da linguagem icônica em smartphones por parte de um grupo amostral de crianças. A pesquisa de natureza aplicada fundamenta-se em uma abordagem qualitativa e desenvolveu uma intervenção pedagógica a fim de alcançar seu objetivo, dividida em três etapas: anamnese com os responsáveis, entrevista e uma bateria de testes com as crianças. O grupo amostral contou com a participação de sete crianças de 4 a 7 anos de idade, todas não alfabetizadas. Os principais resultados da pesquisa foram: relação do interesse da criança pela tecnologia de acordo com a idade; a diversidade de formas que a linguagem icônica pode assumir no aparelho digital e suas variantes; e o domínio pleno das crianças sobre a linguagem icônica nas novas tecnologias. Concluímos que os sujeitos investigados, nativos digitais, compreendem a linguagem dos ícones presentes nas novas tecnologias e que a pesquisa abra espaços para novos estudos sobre a temática.
Technological advancements have been transforming our relations. Digital devices and their languages mediate our contact with the other and with the world. Amongst the languages present in these devices is the iconic language. The child, who is also a user of these devices, makes use of this language and opens the field for reflections. On that sense, we aim to analyze the use of iconic language in smartphones with a sample group of children. The applied research underpins in a qualitative approach and has developed a pedagogical intervention to achieve its goal, divided in three stages: anamnesis with the guardians, interview, and a battery of tests with the children, making use of a mobile phone. The sample group included the participation of seven non-literate children from ages 4 to 7 years old. The main results of the research were: correlation between the child's interest in technology according to their age; variety of ways of which iconic language can have in a digital device and its variants; and the full domain from the children over the iconic language in new technologies. We conclude that the investigated subjects, digital natives, understand the language of the icons present in new technologies and that this research may open space for new studies with the theme.