Introduction The American Optometric Association (AOA) defines the Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) as a syndrome resulting from eye and vision problems, related to computer use at work or do not. The symptoms occur because the visual demands of the task exceed the visual capabilities of the individual to perform comfortably (SEGUÍ, et al., 2015). The objective of this study was to analyse the symptoms of CVS and factors associated with visual function among computer users in an administrative function of a public university hospital of São Paulo (n=303).

Methods A quantitative cross-sectional observational study was carried out between 2014 and 2015, in which the workers underwent a clinical ophthalmologic examination and answered a questionnaire. For the Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25) a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was performed to characterise the study population, and the ANOVA, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to analyse the associated factors. A multiple linear regression model was created, using stepwise forward, with variables that presented significance levels with p<0.20. They remained in the final model, the variables that presented descriptive levels p<0.05.

Result The most frequent symptoms were ‘tiredness at work’ (47.9%), ‘weight in the eyeat work’ (38.3%) and ‘tiredness at home’ (36.3%). It was found an association between age (OR 0.188; 95% CI: −0.276 to −0.161) and effort at work (OR 0.656; CI −0.928 to −0.383) with visual function. In the work effort, the items that appeared as the main sources of stress were: ‘interruptions at work’ (3.7%),’overtime work’ (3.6%) and increased demand (3.6%).

Discussion In this study, the importance of work organisation and the psychosocial factors at work associated to the presence of CVS and the alterations of the visual function in computer users workers were observed. Suggestions include improvement of the work organisation, as well as periodic eye exams for this category of workers.