Abstract
The purpose of this work is to evaluate the effects of confinement due to COVID-19 isolation on visual function, considering insufficient convergence as one of the possible effects of living the whole day in a reduced space. We pass a Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) among 235 people to detect their habits before and after 25 confinement days. The data collection protocol consisted on a Google forms questionnaire included two parts: the first with current data (isolation period) and a second with pre-isolation period data. Differences between the pre-isolation and isolation period were calculated using the related paired T-tests. When statistically significant differences were found, the effect size was estimated using the Cohen’s d index (d). The reduction in physical activity levels during confinement were related to the increase in total number of minutes of screen consumption from 433.49 min to 623.97 min per day (d = 0.67; 44.01%). The CISS scores were increased by more than 43% during confinement. The increase in convergence insufficiency was 100% after the studied isolation period of 25 days. The 92.19% increase in television use during 25 days of confinement is not responsible for the increase in convergence insufficiency. However, due to the increase in the use of PCs in this period, there is a notable increase in convergence insufficiency. Therefore, we can conclude that not all increases in tasks with electronic devices are responsible for the increase in convergence insufficiency.
Highlights
The current pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, is spreading globally at an accelerated rate, with a basic reproduction number of 2–2.5, indicating that 2–3 persons will be infected from each index patient
This large effect size was observed because of the high change percentages in MET-HI (−46.71%), MET-MI (−32.08%) and especially in MET-LI (−80.76%). These results indicate that an isolation of 25 days reduces the physical activity at home, even when the offer of physical activity in social networks and different online channels was increased during the confinement; with gyms and sport facilities closed [25], people changed their habits and abandoned, or at least reduced, their exercise routines
Due to the increase in the use of PCs in this period, there is a notable increase in convergence insufficiency
Summary
The current pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, is spreading globally at an accelerated rate, with a basic reproduction number of 2–2.5, indicating that 2–3 persons will be infected from each index patient. 18 May 2020 indicate more than 4811,255 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with over 318,607 related deaths. The clinical service model is built around the principles of workplace segregation, responsible social distancing, containment of cross-infection to healthcare providers, the judicious use of personal protective equipment and telemedicine [1,2]. Since the origin of the pandemic in. Stringent confinement of people in high risk areas seems to be the strategy with the greatest potential to slow down the spread of COVID-19 [3]. Public Health 2020, 17, 7406; doi:10.3390/ijerph17207406 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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