Prevalence of Symptomatic Dry Eye Disease Among Above 18 to 50 Years of Age

Abstract

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

When you blink, a film of tears spreads over the eye. Tears provides lubrication, reduce the risk of eye infection, wash away foreign material in the eye and keep the surface of the eye smooth and clear. So, the tear film is important for good vision. Tear film consists of three layers – lipid layer, aqueous layer and mucous layer.

Outer lipid layer makes the tear surface smooth and keeps tear from drying up too quickly. This layer is made in meibomian glands. Middle aqueous layer clean the eye, washing away particles that do not belong in the eye. This layer comes from the lacrimal gland. Inner mucous layer helps spread the watery layer over the surface of eye and keep it moist. This layer is made in the conjunctiva. Normally, our eyes constantly make tears to stay moist. These layers keeps cornea and conjunctiva moist, washes away debris, prevents infection and provides oxygen to the cornea.

Excess tears in the eyes flow into small drainage ducts in the inner corners (puncta) of the eyelids, which drain into the back of the nose. When tear production and drainage is not in balance, dry eye can occur.

Dry eye disease is a common condition that occurs when your tears are not able to provide adequate lubrication for your eyes. Dry eye disease is known as dry eye syndrome or keratoconjunctivitis sicca. The prevalence of dry eye in India is 34%, which is higher than global prevalence. Dry eye is a localized autoimmune disease originating from an imbalance in the protective immunoregulatory and proinflammatory pathways of the ocular surface. DED is a disorder of the tear film due to tear deficiency or excessive evaporation, which causes damage to the ocular surface and is associated with symptoms of ocular discomfort. Over time, corneal scratches due to dry eye can produce scarring and result in severe vision loss.

A. Objective

The purpose of this population based cross sectional study was to evaluate the prevalence of symptoms of dry eye disease among paramedical students as well as professionals.

B. Need Of The Study

Dry eye symptoms is the most common type of ocular problems encountered in the daily practice in today’s works. Although, these symptoms lead to one of the most common symptoms decreasing the quality of vision. It is the purpose of present study to examine the prevalence of dry eye symptoms and their association with ocular and general parameters and increased digital work among students as well as professionals.

II. METHODOLOGY

A. Materials & Methods

A cross – sectional survey was done on 292 general educated peoples of the Eastern UP, India. It was done in the time period of April to June 2022. It was done through a questionnaire - based survey using google form. A self -administered questionnaire in English language was made containing multiple choice questions. Patients who participated in this study were between 19 to 50 years of age. All participants were guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality of the responses obtained. Approval was taken before the study from all persons who participating in this study.

B. Study Site

SCPM College of nursing and paramedical sciences, Gonda, UP.

C. Study Design

Observational/ Cross-sectional study

D. Study Population

Students from SCPM paramedical college, Haripur, Gonda

Students of UPUMS, Saifai, Etawah.

E. Study Duration

It was conducted between April 2022 to June 2022.

F. Sample Size

It was included 292 participants from questionnaire/ online survey.

G. Search Engine

Pubmed, Google scholar

H. Sample Criteria

There are two types of criteria-

1. Inclusion Criteria

18-50 years of age, who are willing to participate in the study.

Students and professionals, who are willing to participate in the study.

2. Exclusion Criteria

Students and professionals, who are not willing to participate in the study.

It was excluded population, age < 18 years or > 50 years.

The questionnaire prepared for this survey is divided in 3 sections. Section A is common for approval. Section B is common for all the participants in which some demographic information were asked to the participants. Section C is for dryness details.

The questionnaire prepared for this survey is the following-

• Section A (for participation)

It was related to participation.

• Section B (for demographic details)

Name

Age/gender

State/district

Educational qualification

Occupation

• Section C (for dryness details)

Few questions were asked to the study population such as ant type of systemic history, ocular history, any type of seasonal allergies, type of symptoms during allergy, any limitation of your eyes, feeling uncomfortable with your eyes, severity of your symptoms, duration of digitally display use, any bothering by screen light during digital work

All the data was obtained through the survey statistical analysis was done. The result articulated through the survey was denoting in percentile format.

III. RESULT

Questionnaire were distributed to participants. Approval was taken by section A of questionnaire and before the extraction of data. 292 responses were obtained through the questionnaire. Among the participants, 133 (45.5%) were male and 159 (54.5%) were female. Patients who participated in this study were between 19 to 50 years of age. A comparison of statistical analysis on 292 participants (n=292).

Graph 6 (I, II) 41.2% of participants most of time spent on social media or digital work by the use of smartphone (86.35) while 47.6% of participants feel bothering by smartphone screen light during digital work, Graph 6(III).

Graph 6 (I, II, III) shows that prolonged use of visual display (smartphones) has been suggested as an important risk factor for dry eye disease (DED)

IV. DISCUSSION

The conducted study shows that people have so many symptoms. Most common ocular symptoms of dry eye disease was sensitivity to light, most affected vision related activity was reading, most common environmental trigger of dry eye symptoms was windy conditions. The commonest symptom was dry eyes, followed by burning sensation, irritation, redness, eye fatigue and blurred vision. The possible risk factors such as age, duration and type of digitally work, environmental factors. These symptoms lead to one of the most common symptoms decreasing the quality of vision. In view of their importance for daily life of students. In practice, it is the purpose of present study to examine the prevalence of dry eye symptoms and their association with general and ocular parameters among students with their profession. An additional goal is to investigate its relationship with modern lifestyles and increased digital work in student’s life.

V. ACKNOLEDGEMENTS

Author would like to thanks who have guided greatly till the execution of this article. We sincerely thanks the rural and urban subjects for their participation in the study. Authors also grateful to Authors/ Editors/ Publishers of all those articles, journals and books from where the literature for this article has been reviewed and discussed.

Conclusion

The study “Prevalence of symptomatic dry eye disease among above 18 years of age groups” is very helpful. Everyone who participated in this survey was well educated. Dry eye disease leading to a clinical diagnosis or severe symptoms is prevalent among young and middle age peoples. A classification of dry eye disease based on the distribution of risk factors was recommended for clinical use. The condition is more prevalent among prolonged screen users. Uses of prolonged screen user was a common dry eye risk factors in both female and male genders. The huge burden of dry eye disease (DED) is eastern Uttar Pradesh, India calls for more public health attention and actions. Relevant measures directed against the modifiable risks could provide a positive impact on public health and quality of life of eastern UP peoples. Improved epidemiological studies on dry eye disease (DED) prevalence are still urgently needed.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2022 Dr. Priti Yadav , Meghna Verma, Jaya Singh. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.