Provocation of dry eye disease symptoms during COVID-19 lockdown

© 2021. The Author(s)..

To assess the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on dry-eye symptoms in a community-based population, a cross-sectional study was conducted during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand. An online survey was distributed via social media between June and July 2020. The questionnaire elicited information on demographics, dry-eye symptoms, use of visual display terminals, and mental health status. There were 535 respondents. Thirty-seven percent reported having been diagnosed with dry-eye disease (DED). During the lockdown, the mean dry-eye symptom score (DESS) of overall participants dropped significantly from 81.6 ± 15.9 to 79.8 ± 17.4 (P < 0.001). The mean, daily, visual display terminal (VDT) usage increased from 10.55 ± 5.16 to 13.08 ± 5.65 h (P < 0.001). A negative correlation between age and VDT usage was observed in both the normal and lockdown situations. One-quarter of all participants had an abnormal mental health status. The female gender (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.14-3.04) and increased VDT usage during the lockdown (OR 5.68; 95% CI 3.49-9.23) were independently associated with worsening dry-eye symptoms. The lockdown measures abruptly altered the behaviors and lifestyles of the overall population. Excessive exposure to VDTs were associated with deteriorated dry-eye symptoms, and it possibly contributed to the increased DED incidence in the surveyed population.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:11

Enthalten in:

Scientific reports - 11(2021), 1 vom: 24. Dez., Seite 24434

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Neti, Nutnicha [VerfasserIn]
Prabhasawat, Pinnita [VerfasserIn]
Chirapapaisan, Chareenun [VerfasserIn]
Ngowyutagon, Panotsom [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Journal Article

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 05.01.2022

Date Revised 05.01.2022

published: Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1038/s41598-021-03887-4

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM33488800X