REVIEW ON THE PREVALENCE OF DRY EYE DISEASE

Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that is associated with hyperosmolarity of tear film which in turn leads to inflammation and damage of the ocular surface that accompanied with ocular symptoms of discomfort, fatigue and disturbance in vision. The burden of DED to the patient is not negligible. It may result from dysfunction of a superficial lipid layer, a middle aqueous layer, an innermost mucin layer, either singly or in combination. Prevalence of DED varies country to country, from Asian region to Western region around the world, with a range of between 4.34 –93.2%. Various population-based studies have been done to find out the prevalence and the magnitude of the problem. The variation of the prevalence rate depending on which study is cited, how the disease is diagnosed, and which population is surveyed. Disparities in epidemiological information could arise from age difference, gender characteristics, occupational dissimilarity, risk factors, and differences in etiological factors, which can vary significantly among studies. Studies confirmed that prevalence increases with age and women have a higher prevalence of DED than men. Different occupation and geographic area also attributed risk factors of DED. Different questionnaires used to evaluate symptoms and its impact of our daily life. Generally, DED patients may experience ocular discomfort, including burning sensation, foreign body sensation, grittiness, itching and watering. Others may complain of dryness, ocular fatigue, photophobia, visual disturbance and also sometimes redness. Symptom assessment is a key component of clinical dry eye diagnosis. The prevalence of symptoms was higher and more variable than signs. Several diagnostic tests have been used to assess the quantity; quality and functioning of various layers of tear film and diagnose of Dry Eye Disease. tests like Meibomian Gland Dysfunction test, Tear Film Breakup Time test, Fluorescein staining test, Rose Bengal staining test, Lissamine Green test and Schirmer’s test are commonly used in clinical practice. DED is not only limited to signs and symptoms, some of the studies included in this review reported various diseases, several type of medication, environmental factors, in fact age and sex having associations with DED. Studies suggest that DED can have a considerable impact on visual function, daily activities, social and physical functioning, workplace productivity, and direct and indirect costs of the disease, with a substantial effect on sense of well-being that limits important daily activities and leads to a significantly reduced quality of life. Subjects with dry eye are more likely to develop problems carrying out professional work, using a computer, reading newspaper, watching TV and driving. Future research should establish the prevalence of disease of varying severity, the incidence in different populations and elucidate the impact of climate, environment and socioeconomic factors. More studies have to done in future to explicate the correlation of dry eye symptoms and signs as in this study we are not discuss about the strong relationship between two. Method of Literature Search: A systemic literature review was performed using PubMed and Google Scholar database to collect the studies oriented to dry eye. Mainly focused on the prevalence of dry eye in different region worldwide. The search strategy was not limited by year of publication. Index Terms – Dry Eye Disease (DED), Prevalence, Tear film, Questionnaire, Etiological risk factors, Quality of life. www.ijcrt. org © 2020 IJCRT | Volume 8, Issue 8 August 2020 | ISSN: 2320-2882 IJCRT2008172 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt. org 1619