A Philippine Eye Disease Study done in 2018 revealed that the prevalence rate for vision impairment and blindness in the country was at 1.98 percent, which is about 1.1 million Filipinos with cataract, about 400,000 with uncorrected error of refraction, around 300,000 with glaucoma, and at least 200,000 with maculopathy or diabetic retinopathy, which is common for people suffering from diabetes.
Also, at the time the study was made, there were about 4 million Filipinos with undiagnosed eye problems.
Fast-forward to 2020, where a lot has changed since then. Because of the lockdowns and community quarantines, everything from learning to working was done at home. Zoom classrooms and web-based homework became the norm to protect school children from Covid-19. Children were forced to spend the whole day staring at their teacher and classmates through the computer monitor.
This unnecessarily brought what the American Optometric Association called “Computer Vision Syndrome” or CVS, most of the time called “digital eye strain.” This is brought about by prolonged use of digital devices such as computers, tablets, smartphones, that led to kids having dry, irritated, red and watery eyes, blurred vision and trouble keeping their eyes open, among others.
Increase in eye problems among children
Definitely, there was an increase in the number of cases of eye-related problems among school-age children in the country, according to Dr. Ricky Aranzamendez, Chief Operating Officer of Borough Lasik Center located at the Wellness Zone of SM Mall of Asia. “That’s what we are seeing, at least in the clinic, especially those who do a learn-from-home or online schooling setup due to the Covid-19 scare.”
Dr. Aranzamendez said that before, the majority of their patients were senior citizens. With the advent of laser eye surgery, he said that from the usual 80 to 90 percent senior citizens, it went down to about 50-50. “Right now, we have more patients with refractive cases, meaning the younger patients. When we talk about laser eye surgery, these are common among young adults, those below 40. It overtook the cataract surgery specifically for the elderly because they were not allowed to go out because of their comorbidities.”
But when onsite consultations slowly opened up, personally and based on their own census at the clinic, Dr. Aranzamendez said they saw a lot of school children coming in with their parents because the parents noticed something different.
Usually for children, what can be seen are squinting, complaining of high irritation or blurs. Because of the pandemic and the lockdowns, children were forced to stay at home and the most preferred activities were watching movies, surfing the net. “The problem is, after school work, which forces them to stare at the computer or tablet for a long time, they still use their digital devices for entertainment or relaxation, playing games or watching videos on social media, which causes digital eye strain. Remember that any part of the body, when used excessively can be bad, like the eyes and can cause eye strain, where there is blurring of vision, feeling of dryness.”
Dr. Aranzamendez said the premise before was usually generic, that when a parent is myopic, most certainly it will follow that the children may also have that.
But now, he said that due to the tendency to overuse the eyes in digital devices, it appears that they may also have existing refractive errors, although not high compared to genetic ones. “Unlike in face-to-face classes in schools where there are other activities, the eyes are not used often. Moreso, increased screen time may also aggravate the situation if a person has a pre-existing condition.”
However, the silver lining there is that because of the pandemic and the onset of online classes, parents were able to bring their kids to the doctor earlier. Dr. Aranzamendez said they saw a lot of kids before who complain of eye issues when they are already 10 to 12 years old though it cannot be corrected immediately.
He explained that the need to correct any deficiency in any grade for children should be as soon as possible, like before they turn eight years old. Otherwise, he said kids will develop “amblyopia” or lazy eye, where one eye is stronger than the other. “That’s the silver lining there. We are able to correct it early. The patient will complain, the parents will see it, then they will come to us. The treatment may just be glasses but when the child reaches the age of maturity, then we can offer laser eye surgery.”
A vision of advocacy
Dr. Aranzamendez said that since they started Borough 16 or 17 years ago, Dr. Ches Heredia, Borough’s Chief Executive Officer, really envisioned giving quality service and also trying to make it more affordable despite the fact that they have invested in state-of-the-art technology that is comparable with other institutions.
“It is a passion for both Dr. Ches and myself and it’s not just about making money. It’s about doing the surgery and making the patients happy. We earn a little but we also give back. Even now, if a patient really needs eye treatment but can’t afford it, we actually do some charity work. Part of Borough’s corporate social responsiblity is to perform these surgeries for people who are really in need and deserve it. For us, it’s about the joy of seeing the patient happy, or if they spent less but still had a successful surgery. That is Borough’s advocacy. What we do is we are really trying to help the community,” he said.