Comparing Objective Conjunctival Hyperemia Grading and the Ocular Surface Disease Index Score in Dry Eye Syndrome During COVID-19

Summary

The present protocol describes the cross-sectional research performed on 40 healthy subjects between the ages of 20 and 45 to assess the prevalence of dry eye syndrome (DES) during COVID-19. The OSDI survey evaluated DES, and the advanced ophthalmic systems (AOS) software was used to assess limbal redness.

Abstract

The incidence of dry eye syndrome (DES) has increased due to wearing masks, utilizing digital devices, and working remotely during the pandemic. A survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic to determine the prevalence of dry eye syndrome. A cross-sectional study investigated how prevalent DES is during COVID-19 in healthy patients aged 20-45 in the United States. An Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire was given to 40 individuals remotely from October 31, 2021, to December 1, 2021. The AOS and the OSDI survey were used to evaluate DES. The subjects were 29 years old on average (SD 14.14), with 23 males (57.5%) and 17 females (42.5%). According to the OSDI survey, low DES, moderate DES, and severe DES had prevalence rates of 15%, 77.5%, and 7.5%, respectively. White (W) people represent 50% of the population, while African Americans (AA) represent 35%, Asians represent 7.5%, and Hispanics represent 7.5%. Mild DES affected 77.5% of subjects, with 64.50% males and 35.50% females. According to the AOS objective grading system, mild (M) DES, moderate (MO) DES, and severe (S) DES had prevalence rates of 40%, 12.5%, and 15%, respectively. Linear regression was used to compare the two grading systems, and it demonstrated a strong relationship between the two grading systems.

Introduction

COVID-19, caused by a SARS-COV-2 virus infection, was discovered in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Meduri et al.¹ reported a high prevalence rate of mild ocular symptoms in COVID-19 patients. In Italy, eye surgical procedures were reduced due to the pandemic². Since the outbreak, many have been working from home and wearing masks as a precaution. Each of these elements and the use of digital devices and online learning³ contributed to dry eye syndrome (DES) and eye strain^3,4, respectively. Furthermore, there is evidence that wearing masks....

Protocol

The present study was conducted following the declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Solutions (IRB, 2021/09/14). The study followed the reporting guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. All the participants provided informed consent for the questionnaire. The survey was conducted entirely online via the Internet. If the participants met the eligibility requirements, the consent forms, research project flier, and OSDI questionnaire were emailed to them. After submitting the consent forms and completing the OSDI questionnaire, a $10 gift credit card was issued online for completing the survey.

Results

The subjects were 29 years old on average (mean ± SD, 29 ± 14.14), with 23 males (57.5%) and 17 females (42.5%) (Table 2). White people account for 50% of the population, while African Americans account for 35%, Asians account for 7.5%, and Hispanics account for 7.5% (Figure 2). The average survey score of the OSDI was 6.17 ± 6.24, 37.94 ± 5.07, 46 ± 0 for low, moderate, and high (Figure 3). According to the OSDI Survey, low DES, moderate DES, a.......

Discussion

Several previous studies have reported DES using the Schirmer test, tear break-up time (TBUT), and the OSDI score¹². The present study used the AOS software to determine the DES using the limbal redness. One of the important critical protocol steps is to have a clear image of the eyes; if the image is blurry, determining the limbal redness is very challenging, and most likely, accurate readings are not obtained. When all the images are collected, one of the troubleshooting techniques is to check t.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
AOS SOFTWARE	Advanced Ophthalmic Systems	SPARCA	software to access limbal redness
Microsoft excel	Microsoft		for data collection and analysis