Functional stress and alteration of the ocular surface in subjects video display terminal (VDT)

The authors studied functional stress in subjects video display terminal (VDT) with alterations of the ocular surface. 40subjects were admitted to the study video display terminal (VDT) (14 males and 26 females, mean age 67+/- 5 yr ) with signs andsymptoms of discomfort and/or dry eye (burning, foreign body sensation, dryness and itching), with Schirmer I less than 10 mm, withBreak-up time Test (B.U.T.) lower at 8 seconds according to the Van Bijsterveld 1 criteria. A test “of perceived stress measurement”(MSP) was performed on all patients to assess the self-perceived stress aspects, “feeling stressed” derived from a widely held tool inthe international arena, the Mesuredu Stress Psychologique( MSP). 40 healthy patients, workers, non-VDU operators as controlswere also enrolled.The analysis of individual cluster showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups with regards to only thecluster 1 and 2 (p = o.o3 and p = 0.04, respectively). The correlation analysis showed that there is a positive correlation between theMSP and the number of shifts. Multivariate analysis that place as out as the main the presence or absence of clinically significantstress, found that, controlling for age and sex, the number of shifts and the presence of positive Schirmer test are two risk factors forthe development of stress.An alteration of the ocular surface in (VDT) can easily trigger the chronic process of stressin the terminal operators video subjects with higher exposure to at least 2 hours with changes effectively bacterial microbiotaof the ocular surface.