Researcher Keiji Hirota and colleagues asked 11 subjects with a mean age of 21.3 years who had normal ocular health to play a video game for one hour. A web camera recorded their blinks and the researchers measured tear film break-up time and corneal aberrations.
While the total blink rate changed little, blink quality fluctuated. Tear break-up time at 30 minutes was significantly shorter than at baseline. After 30 minutes, blinks became more complete. The tear break-up time improved after 45 minutes; however, the rate of incomplete blinks began increasing again after about 50 minutes.
“Even if the total blink rate decreases, the tear film remains stable as long as almost all blinks are complete,” the researchers reported. “Our study indicated that tear film stability was determined by blinking quality, and the predominance of blinking type relates to tear film stability.”
