ArticlePloS one2023
Viewing distance and character size in the use of smartphones across the lifespan.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Smartphone Near-Viewing Demands Differ in Corrected Presbyopes: Implication for Presbyopic Correction.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026Article
- Early-onset Presbyopes: Functional Impact and the Need for Clinical Recognition.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026Article
- Acute acquired comitant esotropia in the smartphone era: a narrative review.Japanese journal of ophthalmology · 2026Review
- Viewing distance, font size and symptoms of eyestrain in non-presbyopic and presbyopic smartphone users.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2025Article
- Effects of brightness variations on a smartphone-based version of Radner reading charts.Eye (London, England) · 2024Article
- User Walking Speed and Standing Posture Influence Head/Neck Flexion and Viewing Behavior While Using a Smartphone.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The use of smartphones has seen an extraordinary growth in recent years, thus the understanding of visual habits associated with the use of such devices across the lifespan is becoming important. In the present study we measured viewing distance and character size in a group of non-presbyopes (n = 157) and a group of presbyopes (n = 60) while participants read a simple text message on their smartphone. Results showed that non-presbyopes use shorter viewing distances as compared to presbyopes, a behavior causing a significantly higher accommodative demand. Presbyopes also use larger character sizes and this behavior is more evident whenever difficulties in near vision emerge in the Near Activity Visual Questionnaire (NAVQ, Italian version). Nevertheless, the two groups did not differ in the measurement of angular size subtended by the smallest detail of the letters. Overall, our data reveal that non-presbyopes and presbyopes have different visual habits when using a smartphone. These differences should be considered when determining the best near correction.
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Registered trials
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