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
. 2024 Jan 2;16(1):e51554.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.51554. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Dry Eye Disease in Association With the Increased Use of Electronic Devices Among University Students in Western Saudi Arabia

Noora A Zarban  1 , Omar B Alammari  2 , Saeed Abu Sabah  3 , Nawaf Saleh M Alshamrani  2 , Muath A Alqathanin  2 , Norah A AlRabeeah  4 , Samaher G Basalib  5
Affiliations

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Dry Eye Disease in Association With the Increased Use of Electronic Devices Among University Students in Western Saudi Arabia

Noora A Zarban et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Aim: Dry eye disease (DED) is a prevalent ocular condition that significantly impacts individuals' quality of life and performance. It is charac-terized by the instability of the tear film, which causes ocular surface inflamma-tion and damage that leads to ocular symptoms. However, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of DED and identify associated risk factors among university students in western Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A total of 402 university students participated in this study. The sample size was determined using Raosoft software (Raosoft, Inc., Seattle, WA), considering an estimated student population of 20,000. Data were collected between January and March 2023 through an online questionnaire distributed to the participants. The questionnaire comprised three sections, covering general information, behaviors related to digital device (DD) use, and the validated Arabic version of the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire. OSDI scores were calculated, and the severity of DED was categorized using established cutoff points.

Results: Among the 402 university students who took part in the survey, the majority (63.2%) were aged between 21 and 25 years, with females representing the dominant gender (72.9%). Notably, 90.8% of participants reported using DDs at bedtime. Over 60% of students had been using DDs for more than 10 years, and approximately 61.7% reported having more than six hours of daily screen time. Mobile devices were the most commonly used electronic devices (67.2%), and TikTok emerged as the most frequently used application (35.6%). Based on the OSDI criteria, 21.1% of students had mild DED symptoms, 14.9% had moderate symptoms, and 38.6% had severe symptoms. Hence, the prevalence of students exhibiting positive DED symptoms was 74.6%, while 25.4% were negative.

Keywords: adults; dry eye disease; dry eye disorder; ocular surface disease index; osdi; osdi questionnaire; osdi scoring system; pediatrics; prevalence of dry eye symptoms; saudi arabia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Severity of dry eye disease
Figure 2
Figure 2. Prevalence of dry eye symptoms
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. The epidemiology of dry eye disease: report of the Epidemiology Subcommittee of the International Dry Eye WorkShop (2007) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17508117/ Ocul Surf. 2007;5:93–107. - PubMed
    1. Impact of dry eye disease on work productivity, and patients’ satisfaction with over-the-counter dry eye treatments. Nichols KK, Bacharach J, Holland E, et al. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.16-19419. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2016;57:2975–2982. - PubMed
    1. Impact of dry eye symptoms and daily activities in a modern office. van Tilborg MM, Murphy PJ, Evans KS. Optom Vis Sci. 2017;94:688–693. - PubMed
    1. Vision loss: a public health problem? Saaddine JB, Narayan KM, Vinicor F. Ophthalmology. 2003;110:253–254. - PubMed
    1. Hormone replacement therapy and dry eye syndrome. Schaumberg DA, Buring JE, Sullivan DA, Dana MR. JAMA. 2001;286:2114–2119. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources