Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2018 Feb;66(2):207-211.
doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_698_17.

Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye disease in North India: Ocular surface disease index-based cross-sectional hospital study

Jeewan Singh Titiyal  1 , Ruchita Clara Falera  1 , Manpreet Kaur  1 , Vijay Sharma  1 , Namrata Sharma  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye disease in North India: Ocular surface disease index-based cross-sectional hospital study

Jeewan Singh Titiyal et al. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2018 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to study the prevalence of DED and analyze risk factors in North Indian population.

Methods: This was a cross-section hospital-based, observational study. Cases enrolled over 2 years (systematic random sampling) were administered ocular surface disease index questionnaire to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of DED. Schirmer's test and tear break-up time were performed only in the subset of patients giving consent. Categorical data were assessed with Chi-square/Fisher's Exact test, and odds ratio was analyzed using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. P < 0.05 was statistically significant.

Results: A total of 15,625 patients were screened. The prevalence of DED was 32% (5000/15625); 9.9% (496/5000) had mild DED; 61.2% (3060/5000) had moderate DED; and 28.9% (1444/5000) had severe DED. Age group of 21-40 years, male sex, urban region, and desk job were associated with increased risk of DED. Hours of visual display terminal (VDT) usage significantly correlated with DED (P < 0.001), and 89.98% of patients with 4 h or more of VDT use had severe dry eye. Cigarette smoking and contact lens usage had increased odds of developing severe DED (P < 0.001). Objective tests were undertaken in 552 patients; of these, 81.3% (449/552) had severe DED.

Conclusions: The prevalence of DED in North India is 32%, with the age group of 21-40 years affected most commonly. VDT use, smoking, and contact lens use were associated with increased odds of developing DED.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Miljanović B, Dana R, Sullivan DA, Schaumberg DA. Impact of dry eye syndrome on vision-related quality of life. Am J Ophthalmol. 2007;143:409–15. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nichols KK, Mitchell GL, Zadnik K. The repeatability of clinical measurements of dry eye. Cornea. 2004;23:272–85. - PubMed
    1. Begley CG, Chalmers RL, Abetz L, Venkataraman K, Mertzanis P, Caffery BA, et al. The relationship between habitual patient-reported symptoms and clinical signs among patients with dry eye of varying severity. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2003;44:4753–61. - PubMed
    1. Kallarackal GU, Ansari EA, Amos N, Martin JC, Lane C, Camilleri JP, et al. A comparative study to assess the clinical use of fluorescein meniscus time (FMT) with tear break up time (TBUT) and Schirmer's tests (ST) in the diagnosis of dry eyes. Eye (Lond) 2002;16:594–600. - PubMed
    1. Schiffman RM, Christianson MD, Jacobsen G, Hirsch JD, Reis BL. Reliability and validity of the ocular surface disease index. Arch Ophthalmol. 2000;118:615–21. - PubMed

Publication types