Parents’ perception about children screen time and myopia during covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: To understand parents’ perception of children’s screen time and myopia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this e-survey, 413 parents were included. It was designed on the “Google Forms website and distributed through the social media platform.” The information was collected regarding parent perception of children’s screen use and time spent on digital devices during and after the post-COVID-19 pandemic and knowledge about myopia. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS. Results: In this study, 56 children were myopic according to parental responses. The majority of the parents reported their child is spending more time watching television (73%) and using smartphones (79%) which included playing video/online games (75%) and participating in e-learning (75%). 60% of parents agree that prolonged screen time is harmful to children’s eye health. It was seen that children were spending >4 hrs/day using electronic devices which is 48% since the pandemic began, up from 20% before the pandemic with a P value of <0.05. Overall, 75% of parents believed myopia to be a very/somewhat serious problem for their children. 61% of parents correctly answered that glasses are not the only option for myopia. Conclusion: Parents, as well as children, had increased screen time as compared to the pre-pandemic situation in activities like watching TV, and using a smartphone which included playing online games and e-learning. Children’s screen time had doubled compared to pre-pandemic in almost all age groups. Parents should further be educated on how to control their children’s screen time. Parents had adequate knowledge about myopia and risk factors but further awareness about it is required.