Third Eye Syndrome- a gadget screen addiction among medical professionals in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.

Abstract

Background: Screen time refers to any and all time spent in front of any device with an electronic screen. Today’s youth log a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes per day on screen. Sufficient severity may result in addiction to today’s digital drug. Staring at electronic screen continuously for long time cause multitude of non-communicable diseases. Objective: 1.To deduce the Screen time among people highly proficient with the usage of  electronic screen of gadget regularly 2.To investigate the degree of awareness  in  taking protective measures  among people  3.To ascertain the impacts associated with higher screen time empirically.  Methods:  A cross sectional study was conducted among medical students, interns, doctor and non-medical staff using a strategically devised questionnaire prioritizing on usage and frequency Results: 1.Mean screen time accounts about 50 minutes sans disjunction 2. Night or Reading mode was used by 47% and remaining were not or used sometimes while some were oblivious 3.More than 50% staffs and students have experienced withdrawal symptoms.  Inside of, 14% suffered panic, 15.7% sad, 3.9% stressed, 1% suicidal thoughts, 10% don’t get sleep. Nearly half of them check their mobile up to five times in one hour and 10% check mobile more than 30 times. Conclusion:  Screen addiction is at higher risk in this high tech era and the health effects are considered merely conjecture.