A study in 2005 by Ohio state university lead by professor James Sheedy has shown that while looking at a computer screen or reading people’s average blink rate went down by half (from 15 blinks per minute to 7.5 blinks per minute).
“People tend to squint when they read a book or computer display and that squinting makes the blink rate go way down” said James Sheedy, the lead author. “Blinking rewets the eyes. So if your job requires a lot of reading or other visually intense work, you may be blinking far less than normal, which may cause eye strain and dry eye.”
Most people squint while using a computer for two reasons; It improves eye sight by defining objects more clearly that are out of focus and it also cuts down on the brightness from sources of glare. Both of which have shown to be causes of eye strain.