The evaluation of central visual fatigue in computer terminal users by visual evoked potentials

Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded in a group of 20 operators aged 25-45 years during two sessions, before and after a 5-hour work at computer terminals, in order to assess visual system fatigue. The outcomes were referred to the norms established for the age-matched population of 30 subjects not exposed to professional contact with computers. Most of the examined operators suffered various complaints concerning not only the organ of vision but the central nervous system as well. VEPs were elicited by means of monocular stimulation using the reversal checkerboard pattern and recorded simultaneously from the scalp electrodes placed over the right and the left cerebral hemisphere. Only recording acquired after finishing of a working day demonstrated significant statistically abnormalities of the VEPs waveforms, which suggests their transient character. The changes mentioned above included prolongation of peaks P100 and N2 latency with concomitant attenuation of their amplitudes and a decrease of the correlation coefficient values for the recordings from the hemispheres. The preliminary findings presented in this paper seem to justify a conclusion that the non-invasive VEPs method can be considered as the objective indicator of the central visual fatigue induced by the workload at computer terminals.