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Office workers may be at increased risk of dry eye disease

Ophthalmology. 2008;115(11):1982-1988.

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Office workers who stare at a computer screen for more than 4 hours a day are at an increased risk of developing symptoms commonly associated with dry eye disease.

Using a survey sent to 4,393 office workers, researchers in Japan sought to gauge the prevalence of either clinically diagnosed dry eye disease or symptoms related to the disease. Out of 3,549 respondents, 461 individuals reported a previous diagnosis of dry eye. Dry eye was 2.13 times more common among women.

Severe symptoms of dry eye, measured from answers to three targeted questions on the questionnaire, were observed in 1,147 respondents; again, the prevalence was higher among women.

There was a significant association between either diagnosed dry eye or dry eye symptoms and extended video display terminal use of more than 4 hours and contact lens use, the study authors said. Other factors, including smoking history, medical history and environmental factors, were not associated with dry eye.

Although a survey of dry eye symptoms is also likely to capture individuals who are symptomatic of other ocular surface diseases (including blepharitis, lid and blink abnormalities, contact lens-related problems), the relatively validity of the study is not compromised. The outcomes underscore the high prevalence (32% of respondents) of dry eye symptoms in otherwise healthy working individuals and reinforce the well-known risk factors of female gender, video display terminal use (presumably due to reduced blink rate of “computer stare”) and contact lens use. Interestingly, as only 22% of female and 10% of male respondents had previously been diagnosed with dry eyes, it would be of interest to analyze the correlation of their clinical features with the severity of their subjective symptoms. As the authors point out, the implications for modifying the office environment and/or educating/treating at-risk individuals might substantially improve ocular comfort quality and, hence, work performance.

– Kenneth R. Kenyon, MD
Editor Emeritus,
OSN Cornea/External Disease Section