Prevalence of dry eye syndrome among US women

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Abstract

Purpose

Dry eye syndrome (DES) is believed to be one of the most common ocular problems in the United States (US), particularly among older women. However, there are few studies describing the magnitude of the problem in women and how this may vary with demographic characteristics.

Design

Cross-sectional prevalence survey.

Methods

Study population: we surveyed 39,876 US women participating in the Women’s Health Study about a history of diagnosed DES and dry eye symptoms. Main outcome measure: we defined DES as the presence of clinically diagnosed DES or severe symptoms (both dryness and irritation constantly or often). We calculated the age-specific prevalence of DES and adjusted the overall prevalence to the age distribution of women in the US population. We used logistic regression to examine associations between DES and other demographic factors.

Results

The prevalence of DES increased with age, from 5.7% among women < 50 years old to 9.8% among women aged ≥ 75 years old. The age-adjusted prevalence of DES was 7.8%, or 3.23 million women aged ≥ 50 in the US. Compared with Whites, Hispanic (odds ratio [OR] = 1.81, confidence interval [CI] = 1.18–2.80) and Asian (OR = 1.77, CI = 1.17–2.69) women were more likely to report severe symptoms, but not clinically diagnosed DES. There were no significant differences by income (P[trend] = .78), but more educated women were less likely to have DES (P[trend] = .03). Women from the South had the highest prevalence of DES, though the magnitude of geographic differences was modest.

Conclusions

Dry eye syndrome leading to a clinical diagnosis or severe symptoms is prevalent, affecting over 3.2 million American women middle-aged and older. Although the condition is more prevalent among older women, it also affects many women in their 40s and 50s. Further research is needed to better understand DES and its impact on public health and quality of life.

Section snippets

Study patients

Participants in the present study included the 39,876 health professionals ages 45 to 84 years old in 1992 who are enrolled in the WHS, a randomized trial designed to assess the benefits and risks of aspirin and vitamin E in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer in healthy women.6 Because of their training in nursing or other areas of health care, participants have reliably reported specific details about their health. Participants receive mailed questionnaires every year

Results

Of the 39,876 participants in the WHS, 38,124 (96%) returned the questionnaire on which we assessed DES. Among these women, 36,995 (97%) answered the three dry eye questions. The study population ranged in age from 49 to 89 years old (Table 1). Ninety-four percent of the women indicated they were white, with the largest proportion of women living in the South (31.0%). All women were health professionals with at least some secondary education, the majority (74.0%) having a 3-year registered

Discussion

We found DES to be a relatively common condition among a large group of middle-aged and older US women. When adjusted to the age distribution of US women, data from the present study suggest that over 3.2 million women age 50 years old and older in the US suffer from DES. The prevalence of DES appears to increase with age, although we did not observe a significant age-related increase when DES symptoms are considered alone. The prevalence of DES does not appear to vary greatly by

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the 39,876 dedicated participants of the Women’s Health Study.

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InternetAdvance publication at ajo.com Feb 19, 2003

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