Excessive Blinking in Children and Its Association with Dry Eyes and Visual Display Terminal: A 200 Case-Control Study

Abstract

Objective: To identify the cause of excessive blinking in apparently healthy children, and to evaluate its association with visual activities including visual display terminal use. Material and Methods: The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional case-control study included 200 children aged 6 to 14 years with chief complaints of excessive blinking (study group) and routine eye check-up visits (control group). All participants underwent a complete eye examination including blink rate and tear break-up time measurement. Parents were asked to answer questionnaires regarding tic disorder and duration of visual activities. Results: One hundred children in the study group (mean age 7.9±2.0 years) and 100 children in the control group (mean age 9.5±2.3 years) were enrolled. Participants in the study group were predominantly male (77% versus 44%) and had a higher blink rate (30 versus 9 blinks/minute) compared to the control group. In the study group, there was a significantly higher percentage of participants diagnosed with dry eyes (73% versus 6%, p<0.001), allergic conjunctivitis (41% versus 0%, p<0.001) and tic disorder (19% versus 9%, p 0.042) than in the control group. One third of the participants in the study group had mixed diagnoses of dry eyes and allergic conjunctivitis. There was no significant difference in the duration of visual activities including visual display terminal use between groups. Conclusion: Excessive blinking occurred more commonly in boys. The most common associated disorders with excessive blinking in children were dry eyes, followed by allergic conjunctivitis and tic disorder. There was no association between excessive blinking in children and duration of visual display terminal use. Keywords: Blinking; Excessive blinking; Dry eyes; Visual display terminal

Prevalence of Comorbidity between Dry Eye and Allergic Conjunctivitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The articles included in this systematic review were published between 2012 and 2021 (Table 2). Four studies were from Japan [20][21][22]26], while one each was from Thailand [19], China [23], Turkey [24], Nigeria [25], and Ghana [27]. Seven were prospective studies [19][20][21][22][23][24]26], and two were retrospective studies [25,27].…”

“…Four studies were from Japan [20][21][22]26], while one each was from Thailand [19], China [23], Turkey [24], Nigeria [25], and Ghana [27]. Seven were prospective studies [19][20][21][22][23][24]26], and two were retrospective studies [25,27]. The total sample size was 7254 patients.…”

“…The total sample size was 7254 patients. Three studies primarily included children [19,23,24]. The diagnostic examination…”

“…The total sample size was 7254 patients. Three studies primarily included children [19,23,24]. The diagnostic examination for DED used in those included articles were shown in Table 3.…”

“…The diagnostic examination for DED used in those included articles were shown in Table 3. Seven articles reported the mean age [19,[21][22][23][24]26,27], and the mean age range of the included adults was 30.6 [27] to 69.1 [21] years, whereas the mean age range of children was 4.75 [23] to 11.79 [24] years. All articles mentioned the sex of the patients; there were 1892 men and 5362 women [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”