Comparison of Blink Rate and Blink Pattern between Hard Copy Soft Copy Readers
Kinnari Kalaria, Helly Shah, Priyal Patel · Acta Scientific Ophthalmology · 2023
Aim: The aim of this study is to assess complete and incomplete blinks while reading Hard copy (i.e.paper), Laptop, and I-Pad at arm's length in fix illumination and same font size in sitting position. Method:A cross sectional hospital based study was performed which include total of 120 subjects (age range 15-30 years) in which 87 were female and 33 were male.All participants had good ocular health and reported no symptoms of dry eye (OSDI score <15).After doing Schirmer test and refractive correction, subjects were asked to read in three different material i.e.Hard copy, Laptop and I-Pad each for 2 minutes.It was performed under the same ambient lighting and environmental conditions and at reading distance of 40 to 60 cm and it was video recorded.The blink rate was manually assessed from the video.Result: From the three reading material, there is reduction of blink rate while using electronic device as compared to Hard copy (p < 0.001).There is increase in number of incomplete blinks when reading was conducted on an electronic platform, in contrast to hardcopy text (p < 0.001).In Laptop there is decrease in complete blink and increase in incomplete blink compared to I-Pad (p < 0.001).Female blinks more in comparison to male (p < 0.005). Conclusion:The study can be concluded by saying that the blinks are reduced while using reading material in electronic devices and further it can be said that incomplete blinks exists more in case of electronic devices.In case of Laptop, blinks were reduced as compared to I-Pad.Female blinks are more as compared to male ones.