Association Between Eyelid Twitching and Digital Screen Time, Uncorrected Refractive Error, Intraocular Pressure, and Blood Electrolyte Imbalances.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Case-control study comparing individuals with eyelid twitching to healthy controls
PubMed 39282492 · doi:10.7759/cureus.69249
What was done
A case-control study evaluated 103 patients presenting to an ophthalmology outpatient clinic with eyelid myokymia (twitching lasting more than two weeks; 103 eyes) and 103 healthy controls (103 eyes) between February 2023 and June 2024. All participants self-recorded daily digital screen time over a two-week period. Researchers measured and compared cycloplegic refractive error, intraocular pressure (IOP), optic nerve head cup-to-disc (C/D) ratio, and serum electrolyte concentrations (calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium) between both groups.
What was found
Mean daily screen time was significantly higher in the eyelid myokymia group than in the control group (6.88 ± 2.01 hours vs. 4.84 ± 1.74 hours, p < 0.001). There was a strong positive correlation between the duration of eyelid twitching and screen time (r = 0.670, p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed between groups for cycloplegic refractive error, IOP, C/D ratio, or blood electrolyte levels.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that extended digital screen exposure may be a contributing factor to persistent eyelid myokymia, while routine diagnostic workups for electrolyte imbalances, glaucoma screening metrics, or uncorrected refractive errors may be low-yield in isolated cases.
Limits
Causality cannot be determined due to the observational case-control design. Screen time relied on participant self-logging over two weeks, introducing potential reporting and recall bias. Known triggers for eyelid twitching, such as sleep deprivation, caffeine consumption, and psychological stress, were not reported or controlled for in the abstract.
Cited by
- contradicts Eye twitching is a classic clinical indicator of magnesium deficiency.