Prevalence of Dry Eye Disease in Western India

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Dry eye disease (DED), as defined by thedry eye work shop (DEWS II) guidelines, is a multifactorialdisease with various etiologies ranging from instability andhyperosmolarity of the tear film, inflammation and damageof the ocular surface and neurosensory abnormalities. Studywas done with the purpose to report the prevalence of dry eyedisease (DED) in western India.Material and Methods: This was a cross sectional studyconducted from April 2018 to March 2019. Patients fromoutpatient department > 18 years of age were selected basedon systematic random sampling. The ocular surface diseaseindex (OSDI) questionnaire was explained to the patientsand asked to fill-up and the total OSDI score was calculated.Based on the OSDI scoring, DED prevalence was calculated.Demographic details of the patients were noted and comparedbetween all patients and those with DED.Results: Of the 578 patients included in the study, 198patients (34.26%) had DED. Of those, 95 (47.98%) patientshad mild DED, 63 (31.82%) had moderate DED and 40(20.20%) had severe DED. The mean age of patients withDED was 50.63±18.69 years. Females (54.04%) were morecommonly affected compared to males (45.96%). There wassignificant difference in mean age among the total patientsand DED patients (P= 0.03). The gender ratio was notsignificantly different among total patients and DED patients(P=0.17).Conclusion: The hospital-based prevalence of DED inwestern India is 34.26%. The disease is more common inelderly females.