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Study finds reading rate differs for electronic devices vs. printed material
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PHOENIX – Researchers found a larger lag of accommodation and reduced reading rate in subjects when they read from an i-Pod compared to hard copy text, according to study results reported here at Academy 2012.
Mark Rosenfield, OD, PhD, FAAO, and Gianinna Saa evaluated 20 young subjects with normal vision who read a series of random words aloud at a viewing distance of 33 cm for a continuous 9-minute period either from an Apple i-Pod or printed text, according to the study abstract. Reading rate, accuracy and accommodative response were measured, and afterwards patients completed the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire.
The researchers, from the State University of New York College of Optometry, reported no significant differences in total symptom score or reading accuracy, but they found the reading rate with the i-Pod was significantly slower than with hard copy – 95.9 words per min. vs. 109.4 words per min. They also found that the mean lag of accommodation was significantly more for the electronic device vs. hard copy – 1.08 D vs. 0.88 D. In addition, no differences were seen in the OSDI scores.
“The most commonly reported symptoms are tired eyes, eye strain and dry eye,” Rosenfield and Saa reported in the abstract. “These may be related to differences in ocular accommodation or vergence.
“Alternatively, symptoms of dry eye may result from the electronic device being positioned in a more elevated position of gaze when compared with the eyes-down position typically adopted when viewing printed materials,” they said. “Other potential causes include a reduced blink rate and an increased number of complete blinks.”