How Closed-Circuit Television Users Develop Computer Vision Syndrome
By Leventhal, Jay; Wehberg, Koert; Access World, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 33-40Publication Date: July 2001
Article on Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) in persons with low vision who use a closed circuit television (CCTV). CVS is characterized as visual fatigue and neck, shoulder, and back pain resulting from using a computer for long periods of time. Documents viewed with a CCTV are placed under a camera so the enlarged image can be viewed on screen. Items are placed on an X-Y table, requiring hand and arm movement. According to James Sheedy, an authority on CVS at the University of California at Berkeley, School of Optometry, the major causes of CVS are uncorrected refractive errors and poor posture. He suggests that CCTV users seek a separate prescription for screen viewing. A survey is included in the article, with seventy percent reporting that it is easy for them to read text with their CCTV. Still, forty percent of users stop after only ten minutes or less per sitting. Neck Strain was reported as being the most prevalent symptom among users who employ smaller print sizes, with back strain taking up twenty-five percent of the survey. Overall, eye strain was the most prevalent symptom.
Published by: AFB Press (Website:http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=46)
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) (Web Site: http://www.afb.org )
Link to text: http://www.afb.org/aw/AW020405.asp
