VOLUME
12,
NUMBER
2,
APRIL
2006
209
Other Physiological
Tests
Objectively measured skin dryness was significantly higher at
15%
RH
than at
35%
RH
(P
<
0.003)
when pooling the data from both dean and polluted conditions.
No
other effects
of
low humidity could be
shown
in
terms
of
the physiological test results.
Performance
of
Office
Tasks
It
has
been
shown
above
that
very
little eye discomfort was experienced even when perfom-
ing tasks requiring concentration and continuous visual data acquisition-typing, reading, and
addition.
At
22°C
(71.6'F)
in
clean air, the performance of these tasks decreased significantly
with relative humidity (Figures 6-8). Typing speed, as measured in words typed per minute,
decreased progressively
from
35%
to
5%
RH
by
4%
(P
-=
0.0002,
parametric ANOVA); proof-
reading, as measured in lines read per minute, decreased progressively over the same range
by
7%
(P
<
0.03,
Wilcoxon test,
5%
vs.
35%
RH);
addition, as measured in units attempted per
minute, decreased by
9%
(P
<
0,00001, Friedman test). It may be seen in Figure
8
that the
decrease
in
the performance
of
the addition task occurred below
15%
RH
rather than progres-
sively.
No
effect
of
conditions on reading speed and Comprehension could be
shown.
In
order to
examine the possibility that
the
incompletely balanced design might have allowed learning from
first to last exposure
to
be the underlying cause
of
the observed differences between conditions,
the influence
of
order of presentation was examined, without regard
to
environmental condi-
tions. There were no significant effects
of
learning
on
typiiig speed or proofreading,
both
well-practiced
tasks,
but there was a significant effect
of
learning
on
the relatively unfamiliar
task
of
serial addition
(P
0.05).
This effect was removed by multiplying individual scores in
the addition task by
a
factor reflecting average group performance on each occasion (first, sec-
ond,
third,
and
fourth
exposure),
and
the effect
of
condition
was again
examined.
Performance
of
the addition task
was
still lower at
5%
RH
than at any
of
the higher levels of RH
(P
<
0.04, as
shown in Figure
9).
The
size
of
the effect
was
now
5%
instead of
9%.
It
is then clear that only
the driest condition
(5%
RH)
had
any negative effect
on
the
performance
of
the addition
task,
whereas
the
performance
of
the
typing
and
proofreading
tasks
appears
to have decreased
pro-
gressively as humidity decreased.
The only significant effects
of
temperature on performance at constant absolute humidity that
could be shown were a decrease in errors
in
the
paced
version of the addition
task
as temperature
increased
(P
O.Oi>
and
an
increase
in
reading speed
with temperature
(P
<
0.05).
Performance
was
better
in
both
cases under conditions in which the relative humidity was slightly lower. The
error rate in the addition task was significantly higher
(4.1%
vs.
3.2%)
at
18°C
(64.4"F),
in
com-
parison with
22°C
(7
1.6"F),
while reading speed was
7%
lower at
18T
(64.4'F) than at
26OC
(78.8'F).
It seems
likely
that these effects were due to the temperature rather than to the accom-
panying change in relative humidity.
DISCUSSION
Subjectively reported
symptoms
of
dry
discomfort increased
as
humidity levels
were
reduced
in
the
low
humidity range (below
35% RH),
although the level of discomfort indicated
on
visual-analogue scales was never more than mild even at
5%
RH.
However, clear evidence was
obtained that five hours
of
exposure to
15%
RH
or below is sufficient for the mucous layer
of
the tear
film
to
become measurably
more
dry
than at
25%
RH
or
above in clean air. This effect
of
low
humidity was exacerbated
in
polluted air by raising the air temperature slightly at con-
stant absolute humidity. There was an observed increase
in
blink rate at low humidity, and this ic
presumably one of the behavioral strategies that are adopted to reduce perceptibly negative
effects of
low
humidity
on
the tear film. Subjectively reported eye irritation increased signifi-
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