DRY EYE DISEASE

March 19, 2019

According to a recent study published in The Ocular Surface, India on the brink of a dry eye disease epidemic.

Key Findings of the study:

For the first time, a large-scale, hospital-based study in India involving over 14.5 lakh patients was undertaken across 200 locations in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka between 2010 and 2018. The results were published in The Ocular Surface. Its key findings are –

With a large ageing population, growing middle-class and chronic nature of the disease, India is on the verge of a dry eye disease epidemic. The prevalence of dry eye disease will be in about 40% of the urban population by 2030.
The incidence (number of new cases occurring each year) of dry eye disease are 21,000 (1.46%). At over 12,500 cases, the incidence in urban areas was higher than in rural areas (over 8,700 cases).
The onset of dry eye disease is early in men than in women. In men, the age of disease onset is early 20s and 30s compared with 50s and 60s in women. Hormonal imbalance could be a likely reason for higher cases in women in their 50s and 60s.
The disease is hugely underdiagnosed in India.