Psychology of computer use: XXXVI. Visual discomfort and different types of work at videodisplay terminals

The relationship between visual discomfort (or asthenopia) and different types of work using display units for 10,626 videodisplay terminal operators of the Italian Telecommunication Company was studied. Visual discomfort was evaluated as related to data entry, data checking, word processing, dialogue, enquiry, and various services. Chi-squared indicated that visual discomfort was not significantly related to any particular type of work for subjects with similar amounts of weekly time using videodisplay units. These findings are consistent with earlier results indicating that the main factor determining visual fatigue in VDT operators is the amount of time spent on the display units.