Associations of systemic diseases, smoking and contact lens wear with severity of dry eye

PURPOSE: Systemic diseases, smoking, ocular surgeries and contact lens wear have been linked with dry eye but it is not known if these factors are also associated with severity of dry eye. A cross-sectional investigation was conducted on the effect of various systemic and ocular conditions with respect to the severity of dry eye in Asian patients.

METHODS: Prospective recruitment of consecutive new referral patients from a dry eye clinic was performed. Medical history, dry eye symptoms and clinical assessment were coded in a standardised form and analysed.

RESULTS: Out of 510 patients (25% men), mean ± S.D. age 53.0 ± 14.1 years, 25 had previous diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, 30 had diabetic mellitus, 41 had thyroid disease, and 33 were current smokers; 23 and 41 patients had previous LASIK and cataract surgery respectively and 90 were current contact lenses wearers. A previous diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis was associated with more severe superior corneal fluorescein staining (OR = 11.2, 95% CI 4.6-27.4).

CONCLUSION: Generally, with the exception of rheumatoid arthritis, there were no associations between dry eye severity and systemic diseases, smoking, previous ocular surgeries and contact lens wear. Dry eye patients with rheumatoid arthritis tend to have more severe ocular surface damage in the superior cornea.