title: Effects of wink glass on blink rate, nibut and ocular surface symptoms during visual display unit use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Wink glass (WG), an invention to stimulate blinking at interval of 5 s was designed to reduce dry eye symptoms during visual display unit (VDU) use. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of WG on visual functions that include blink rate, ocular surface symptoms (OSS) and tear stability during VDU use.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 26 young and asymptomatic subjects were instructed to read articles in Malay language with a computer for 20 min with WG whereby their blink rate, pre- and post-task tear break-up time, and OSS were recorded. The results were compared to another reading session of the subjects wearing a transparent plastic sheet as a control.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Non-invasive tear break-up time was reduced after reading session with transparent plastic sheet (pre-task = 5.97 s, post-task = 5.14 s, z = -2.426, p = 0.015, Wilcoxon), but remained stable (pre-task = 5.62 s, post-task = 5.35 s, z = -0.67, p = 0.501) during the reading session with WG. The blink rate recorded during reading session with plastic sheet was 9 blinks/min (median) and this increased to 15 blinks/min (z = -3.315, p = 0.001) with WG. The reading task caused OSS (maximum scores = 20) with median score of 1 (0-8) reduced to median score of 0 (0-3) after wearing WG (z = -2.417, p = 0.016).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WG was found to increase post-task tear stability, increased blinking rate and reduced OSS during video display unit use among young and healthy adults. Although it may be considered as an option to improve dry eye symptoms among VDU users, further studies are warranted to establish its stability and its effect on subjects with dry eyes.
authors.affiliation: Optometry & Vision Science Program, School of Healthcare Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Univerisiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia and.
authors.forename: Cheah Kiok
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Ang
authors.forename: Norhani
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mohidin
authors.forename: Kah Meng
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology*; D016288:Computer Terminals; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy; D055096:Optical Devices; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013666:Tears / Q000737:chemistry*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Blink rate; Wink glass; non-invasive tear break-up time; visual display units