ABSTRACT
The work of air traffic control specialists require several hours looking at screens, and they comprise a group particularly exposed to digital-related eye strain. In this review we aim to understand the quantitative and qualitative methods currently used to diagnose and evaluate asthenopia in air traffic control specialists. A bibliographic search was carried out at the databases PubMed® and ClinicalKey®, using keywords, and selecting review articles and observational studies, dated after 2000, containing the keywords in the title and/o abstract. Articles not published in English were excluded. There are several subjective and objective methods to better describe digital-related eye strain, including questionnaires, aiming to make diagnosis of dry eye disease or changes in accommodation and convergence. From our analysis, there are few prospective studies with moderate and high levels of evidence regarding these diagnostic methods. The Computer-Vision Symptom Scale seems to be a reliable questionnaire to be applied to air traffic control specialists, for diagnosis of digital-related eye strain. Several objective methods can also be employed in this evaluation, and, in a later stage, it will be important to apply both diagnostic methods to evaluate the prevalence of this condition in air traffic control specialists.
Asthenopia; Air traffic control specialists; Computers