Effect of reading on non-invasive tear break-up time and inter-blink interval

The authors investigated the effect of reading both Chinese and English articles on the non-invasive tear film break-up time and inter-blink interval of 33 Hong Kong-Chinese subjects. There were no significant differences in the non-invasive tear break-up time or the inter-blink interval between reading a Chinese article and reading an English one. Reading had no effect on the non-invasive tear break-up time, but there was a significant increase in the inter-blink interval when reading. Reduced blinking is a probable cause of symptoms of discomfort and gritty eyes during prolonged reading. There were significant correlations between non-invasive tear break-up time and inter-blink interval before reading and when reading the Chinese article, but not when reading the English article. However, these results were due to one group of subjects only.