A review of eight studies by the Cochrane Review Group found limited evidence that glasses designed for computer use improve eye strain or headaches. “Progressive computer glasses might be slightly better than progressive glasses for daily use in the short-term but not in the intermediate-term, and there is no data on long-term follow-up,” said the authors. However, the quality of the evidence was low so the conclusion is not definitive and larger studies with several hundred participants, proper randomisation and longer follow-up, are required to improve evidence quality, they said.

Studies included those in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); PubMed; Embase; Web of Science; and OSH update, all to 20 December 2017. Researchers also searched trial registries and checked references of included studies. They included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-randomised trials of interventions evaluating optical correction for computer workers with refractive error for preventing or treating asthenopia and their effect on health related quality of life.

They rated the quality of evidence as low or very low due to risk of bias in the included studies, inconsistency in the results and imprecision.