Assessment of visual and mental fatigue of young smartphone users of Kolkata

Abstract

CONTEXT: According to multiple studies, the use of smartphone leads to several deleterious implications such as visual fatigue, mental fatigue, and altered mental alertness level. AIM: The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is any instance of visual fatigue, mental fatigue, and changes in alertness. METHODOLOGY: A light meter has been used to detect the level of illumination of the experimental room. Critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF) test is used to identify the occurrence of visual fatigue, mental fatigue, and changes in alertness. Student's t-test was performed to investigate the differences in the CFFFs of pre- and post-experimental conditions in both illuminated and dark situations. RESULTS: A reduction of posttask CFFF has occurred after the completion of the task in both cases. There were significant differences of means in between pre- and post-experimental conditions in both illuminated and dark conditions. Posttask mean CFFF values in the dark condition are lesser than the illuminated condition. CONCLUSIONS: It can be suggested from the present study that the use of smartphone with video features for 30 min or more can cause visual fatigue, mental fatigue, and reduced mental alertness among young (22 ± 2.1 years) smartphone users. The use of smartphone in the presence of illumination causes less deleterious effects than dark conditions.