Jan. 31, 2024 — The American Optometric Association(AOA) has published a report to understand the implications of unmanaged screen time in the U.S. and the essential preventative role of routine eye care. 

“It’s impossible to ignore the impact that digital devices have had on our daily lives, particularly in the workplace,” says Deloitte Economics Institute partner Simone Cheung, who led the report. “Through our study with AOA, we were able to quantify the cost of unmanaged screen time and gain insight into the impact on not only Americans’ health, but employers and the overall health system.”

Here are some key findings from the report:

• More than 104 million working-age Americans spend more than seven hours a day in front of screens, resulting in an estimated $151 billion in health system, productivity, and well-being costs in 2023.
• Nearly 70% of office workers are exposed to excessive screen time compared to 42% of those in other professions.
• Of those surveyed, 31% had not seen an optometrist in the last 12 months, and 55% of this group reported experiencing vision-related symptoms that could be improved or resolved with routine eye care.
• There is a potential gain of up to $45.5 billion in productivity and up to $26.4 billion in well-being improvements if the average American exposed to excessive screen time visited an optometrist once a year.

“Through this report, we have even more data showing that not visiting a doctor of optometry can have notable cost implications and potentially reduce quality of life,” says AOA president, Ronald L. Benner, O.D. “These findings further underscore the importance of better screen time habits and receiving annual, in-person comprehensive eye exams with an AOA doctor of optometry to maintain your eye and overall health.”

The AOA developed this report as part of its Eye Deserve More national public awareness campaign, driven by the idea that “every American deserves in-person comprehensive eye care from a doctor of optometry as part of their eye health and overall well-being,” the AOA shares. The campaign includes other educational resources like the mobile game Blink Land, which teaches users about prioritizing eye health while on screens through minigames and trivia.