A STUDY ON PREVALENCE OF DRY EYE SYMPTOMS AND ITS RELATION TO DIGITAL SCREEN TIME EXPOSURE IN PATIENTS ATTENDING OPHTHALMOLOGY OPD .

Aim: Dry eye syndrome is a chronic disorder of the ocular surface that can substantially affect the quality of life of an individual. An increased global dependence on digital screen has led to a rise in associated visual complaints, including eye strain, ocular dryness, burning, blurred vision, and irritation, to name a few. We have conducted this study to report the prevalence of dry eye symptoms and its relation to digital screen time exposure in patients attending ophthalmology OPD at our tertiary care centre. It was prospective study conducted in Methods: the tertiary health care centre, over a period of 2 years. We studied 110 patients of various age group 18 - >60 years with dry eye symptoms. A detailed history, vision, ocular examination and various dry eye tests were done and they were called on follow ups at 2 and 4 weeks. Maximum number of patients came with complaint of watering(92.7%) followed by redness ( Results- 90%), Foreign Body Sensation (72.7%), itching (28.2%) and Blurring Of Vision (27.3%). No signicant association between screen time and symptoms. Females(62.26%) were found to be more involved than males (56.14%). Percentage of patients having dry eye disease in the age group 18-40 years was maximum (66.4%) followed by 41-60 years (31.8%), >60 years (1.8%). In Conclusionour study, we found out maximum age group with dry eye disease was 18-40 years of age, which is in contrast to other studies showing more in older age group. This can be attributed to online mode of schooling, frequent gaming and work from home scenario during covid 19 pandemic.