A PRELIMINARY-STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF COMPUTER GLASSES ON REPORTED VDT USER SYMPTOMS - A FIELD-STUDY

Although much research has been performed on the visual problems assoc iated with VDT usage, little attention has been paid to the cause-effe ct relationship of the symptoms. Also, studies in this area have mostl y been conducted in the laboratory. In an attempt to overcome some of the shortcomings, the present study focused on a change in visual symp toms through the use of an intervention variable (computer glasses) in a field setting. The symptoms of 79 VDT users were recorded over a 15 week period. A variation and extension of the basic reversal (ABA) de sign was used to assess the effect of a pair of computer glasses in ch anging VDT-related symptoms. The results indicated that the VDT-relate d symptoms were reduced through the use of the computer glasses. Futur e research areas regarding effecting visual symptoms were also discuss ed.