Dry eye disease increasing among younger people as research explores link with screen time
Madison Brinkworth works from home and is often on her laptop for eight hours per day. (ABC News: Mark Rigby)
In short:
Dry eye disease, a condition traditionally associated with older people, is affecting children as young as 12.
Links with the disease and digital device use have been shown, but further research is needed.
What's next?
Optometrists and ophthalmologists say a good diet, quality sleep, regular exercise, and taking frequent breaks from screens are important for eye health.
A normal work day for digital native Madison Brinkworth involves at least eight hours on her laptop.
Add the time she spends on her phone or streaming and her daily dose of screen time reaches double-digit territory.
But when her eyes first started getting red and itchy in early 2023 she put it down to eczema, something she had battled with before.
"In the mornings I'd wake up and they'd be really swollen," Ms Brinkworth said.
"A bit like conjunctivitis where you get that irritation and that gunk would start to form in the mornings."
Ms Brinkworth said her doctor's advice was to wash her eyes with baby shampoo and use medicated eye drops, but months later with no improvement an optometrist diagnosed her with dry eye disease.
"They said because of my lifestyle, working from home where I'm constantly on the computer, it could stem from that," she said.
'It's alarming'
At 27 years of age, Ms Brinkworth is one of an increasing number of younger Australians that experts say are being diagnosed with a condition that was traditionally associated with older people.
Gold Coast-based optometrist Shaina Zheng has treated children as young as 12 for dry eye disease in the past 12 months.
Research shows people blink less frequently after one hour of using a digital screen. (AAP: Paul Miller)
"I believe the reason I'm seeing an increase in young people presenting with dry eyes is due to the increase in digital device usage across all age groups," Ms Zheng said.
"It's alarming to me as a practitioner because the earlier someone develops dry eye disease, the more risk they will experience debilitating symptoms."
Professor of optometry and vision science at the Queensland University of Technology, Scott Read, said the increase in adolescent cases of dry eye disease may, in part, be because of a greater focus on the impact of digital devices on eye health.
"It's been recognised that environmental and lifestyle factors can increase the risk of dry eye and that's prompted more research to look for it in children and young populations," Professor Read said.
Research is finding links between high amounts of screen time and dry eye disease in younger people. (ABC News: Mark Rigby )
"Traditionally, dry eye has been considered something that mainly affects older populations.
"Evidence from research suggests that somewhere between 5 and 20 per cent of children may have dry eye — so up to one in five kids."
A University of New South Wales review of paediatric research, published in 2023, found up to 26.6 per cent of adolescents have dry eye disease globally.
What is dry eye disease?
Ophthalmic surgeon and associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of Sydney, Colin Chan, said dry eye disease was a chronic and progressive condition caused by problems with the protective coat, or tear film, over the eye.
"It could be an inadequate production of tears, or the tear-layer quality is poor, so it evaporates more quickly," Professor Chan said.
"That can lead to micro-ulcerations on the cornea which then leads on to various symptoms such as pain, tiredness, or grittiness, and in severe cases can lead to functional loss of vision."
Some research says smaller screens can be more damaging to eyes than larger ones. (ABC South East SA: Kate Hill)
Dr Chan said research investigating the link between screen time and dry eye disease in young people was in its early stages but there were "a few things emerging that seem to be consistent".
"One study from the University of New South Wales showed that blink rate, which is important to replenish tears, reduced after an hour of using a phone or a screen," he said.
"Another study from India showed things become much worse once you exceed three hours in terms of more permanent changes.
"And there's some evidence saying it [the link] is related to screen size, so the smaller the screen the worse it is."
Professor Scott Read says up to one in five children have dry eye disease. (Supplied)
Professor Read said other studies suggested screen use at or before bedtime was also linked to dry eye disease in younger people.
"In that respect, it's generally those closer up screens where kids will be engaging with the content much more, where they're really concentrating and they're tending to blink less," he said.
"It's a concern because in very mild forms dry eye only leads to minor symptoms, but if it becomes more significant then patients can get greater symptoms that can affect quality of life."
What to do?
Treatments for dry eye disease are available, but Professor Chan said "like most things in medicine, prevention is better than cure".
"The treatments do help roll back some of the changes, but once you have complete loss of the tear glands then, at this point in time, there is no way to replace them," he said.
Regular exercise and a healthy diet can help prevent the development of dry eye disease. (ABC News: Julian Robins)
Plenty of good quality sleep, eating a healthy diet high in omega 3 fatty acids and getting enough exercise are all ways of reducing the risk of dry eye disease, according to Professor Chan.
"All of the things that we know are good for us are also good for dry eyes," he said.
Aside from reducing screen time where possible, Ms Zheng suggested taking regular breaks and making a conscious effort to blink more regularly while using digital devices.
She also said it was important to have an optometrist investigate any symptoms of dry eye disease early.
Optometrist Shaina Zheng says she's seeing symptoms of dry eye disease in children as young as 12. (ABC News: Mark Rigby)
"It's a lot easier to treat a mild or moderate dry eye case than a severe case," she said.
Ms Brinkworth's diagnosis came early enough and, despite the nature of her work, she was confident a strict eye-care regime and regular clinical treatments could manage the condition.
"There's only so much I can do but I am mindful of taking breaks and looking after my eyes," she said.
"I'm concerned it could get worse, but at this stage I just have to follow my regime and listen to the advice so I can somewhat have it under wraps."