Abstract： Objective To study the short-term effect of a mask-operated video display terminal(VDT)on dry eyes.Methods A prospective case-control study.Fifteen(30 eyes)ophthalmic postgraduate volunteers who examined in the oph-thalmology clinic of Subei People's Hospital from April to May 2021 were collected.The subjects watched the computer video for 1 hour on the first day while wearing a medical-surgical mask.On the second day(24 hours later),they watched the computer video for 1 hour without a mask.Before and after watching the video,all subjects were examined by rapid rry eye assessment questionnaire(SPEED),dry eye comprehensive analyzer,anteriorsegment optical coherence tomography(AS-OCT),pentacam anterior segment analyzer and slit lamp microscope.The changes of eye surface-related indexes be-fore and after watching computer videos with and without a mask and the differences between them were analyzed.Results The scores of SPEED questionnaire,index of surface variance(ISV),and conjunctival congestion increased(all P<0.05),tear meniscus height(TMH),lower tear meniscus height(LTMH),lower tear meniscus depth(LTMD),and lower tear me-niscus area(LTMA)decreased after watching the video with or without a mask(all P<0.05),non-invasive first tear film break-up time(NIBUTf)shortened(all P<0.001)and ciliary congestion increased(all P<0.001)after watching the video with a mask.Ciliary congestion after watching the video with a mask was more severe than without a mask(P=0.002).Con-clusions Wearing a mask and using VDT can cause eye discomfort,reduce tear film stability and reduce tear secretion.Compared with the condition without a mask,VDT can aggravate the inflammation index of dry eye for a short time.