A comparison of ocular complaints and their relationship with sleepiness between professional and non-professional computer users

This study was conducted to investigate ocular complications and their relationship with sleep problems between IT students at Shahroud University of Technology as professional computer users and public health students at Shahroud University of Medical Sciences as non-professional computer users. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014–2015 on 290 students, including 145 IT and 145 public health students. The students were selected by simple random sampling. Data were collected using five questionnaires, including a demographic questionnaire, the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), the Visual Fatigue Questionnaire, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the STOP-BANG, and an examination for visual acuity. Data were analyzed in SPSS-22 using descriptive and inferential statistics and the level of statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. The comparisons showed a significant difference in the mean scores of the OSDI, VFQ and ESS between the male and female students, as all these scores were higher in the female students; however, no significant differences were observed in these scores between the professional and non-professional users. Given the significant direct relationships between the scores of the four questionnaires, it can be argued that sleep disorders and ocular disorders have reciprocal effects on each other. Sleepiness, dry eye and eye strain were not different between the groups of professional and non-professional computer users, but long hours of computer and cellphone use were observed so all students need to receive further education and correct ergonomics regardless of their field of study.