Computer Vision Syndrome

The vision problems at computers result in visual inefficiencies and in eye-related symptoms.  The causes for the inefficiencies and the visual symptoms are individual vision disorders and/or poor visual ergonomics.  The symptoms occur whenever the visual demands of the task exceed the visual abilities of the individual.  For example, many individuals have marginal vision disorders such as uncorrected refractive errors, accommodative disorders, or binocular vision disorders that do not cause symptoms when performing less demanding visual tasks.  Likewise, there are numerous aspects of the computer and its work environment which make it a more demanding visual task than others - therefore, more individuals are put beyond their threshold for experiencing symptoms.

The vision problems of computer users are very real, they are very prevalent and we know most of the bases for the problems.  The visual symptoms can largely be resolved with proper management of the environment and by providing proper visual care for the computer worker.

A simple definition of CVS is "the complex of eye and vision problems which are experienced by computer users".