Original articlePrevalence and Risk Factors of Dry Eye Syndrome in a United States Veterans Affairs Population
Section snippets
Study Population
Patients seen in the Miami and Broward Veterans Affairs eye clinics between July 15, 2005 and July 15, 2010 were included in this analysis. Patients seen in Veterans Affairs clinics consist of ex-military personnel but do not include or represent all former military recruits. Patients seen in other Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics during this time period were not included as a preliminary analysis revealed that non–eye care professionals did not use the ICD9 code for DES. Patients were
DES Prevalence
The crude period prevalence (number of dry eye cases over 5-year period divided by all patients seen during that time period) of dry eye syndrome in our veteran population was 10% (n = 2056/20 731).
Risk Factor Analysis of Demographic Characteristics
Excluding discordant cases (n = 3869), a total of 16 862 patients were identified as being either a dry eye case (n = 2056) or control (n = 14 806). The period prevalence for these patients (number of dry eye cases over 5-year period divided by a denominator, which excluded patients with discordant
Discussion
The goal of this study was to use the Veterans Affairs administrative database to estimate the prevalence of DES in a veteran population and to examine which medical diagnosis and systemic medications were associated with an increased risk of DES. Several previous studies have similarly reported on DES prevalence and risk factors and we wished to compare our findings with those of other US and international populations. As the scope of DES in the Veterans Affairs population has not previously
Anat Galor, MD, is an Assistant Professor at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, and a staff physician at the Miami VAMC. She completed an ophthalmology residency at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute, followed by a uveitis fellowship at Wilmer Eye Institute and a cornea fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Dr. Galor's research interests focus on understanding the pathophysiology and improving treatment outcomes of ocular surface conditions including dry eye syndrome,
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2023, Contact Lens and Anterior EyeCitation Excerpt :Using the same short questionnaire employed in this study, previous studies have reported dry eye rates based on clinical diagnosis and/or severe symptoms, with a DED prevalence ranging from 6.8 % to 24.4 % for previous diagnoses and 1.3 % to 10.4 % for severe symptoms, with studies in Asian countries showing high rates. Despite the wide range of published DED data, the DED prevalence in the current study exceeds that reported by previous epidemiological studies from various countries [34–37], with a number of studies restricted to specific towns [13,14,17,35,36]. This high rate could be attributed to the dry weather, low annual rainfall, low humidity, widespread use of air conditioners, ethnicity variations, high temperature, and sunlight, all of which can affect tear film quality and the ocular surface, leading to the disease [30,31,37,38].
Anat Galor, MD, is an Assistant Professor at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, and a staff physician at the Miami VAMC. She completed an ophthalmology residency at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute, followed by a uveitis fellowship at Wilmer Eye Institute and a cornea fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Dr. Galor's research interests focus on understanding the pathophysiology and improving treatment outcomes of ocular surface conditions including dry eye syndrome, ptergyium, and conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia.
Victor L. Perez, MD, performed his residency training at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary (MEEI) in Boston, Massachusetts. He then completed a Cornea and External Diseases and Uveitis Fellowship at MEEI and a Research Fellowship for Ocular Immunology at Schepens Eye Research Institute. Dr Perez is currently the director of the Ocular Surface and Inflammation Research Program at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. His clinical practice is dedicated to cornea and stem cell transplantation, medical and surgical care of patients with autoimmune disorders of the anterior segment and keratoprothesis.