Dry eye disease in bank workers in Port harcourt city rivers State, Nigeria

Aim: To determine the prevalence, distribution and risk factors for dry eye disease (DED) among bank workers in Port Harcourt city local government area (LGA) of River State, Nigeria and to compare the reliability of the evaluation parameters.Methods: It was an institution-based descriptive cross-sectional study. Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) directly administered to the participants. Dry eye disease was objectively assessed with Schirmer 1 test and Tear-film Break-up Time (TBUT). An OSDI score ? 13 was considered as diagnostic of DED. The data were analysed using SPSS (Version 20.0), and p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Four hundred and thirty (430) bankers participated in the study. They were made up of 166 males (39%) and 264 females (61%) with M: F ratio of 1:1.6. The age range was 18-49 years; the mean (SD) age was 30.9±6.1 years. The prevalence of dry eye disease with OSDI was 57%, with Schirmer 1 test 24% and TBUT 21%. The sensitivity, specificity and Positive predictive value (PPV) of Schirmer 1 test was shown to be 43%, 74% and 68.4% respectively and the sensitivity, specificity and Positive predictive value (PPV) of TBUT was 26%, 86% and 71.1% respectively. The receiver operating characteristics analysis in this study revealed that the Schirmer test and the TBUT were marginally useful in the diagnosis of DED. The use of contact lens, computers and presence of allergic conjunctivitis had significant effect on the onset of DED using OSDI score. Allergic conjunctivitis was the only risk factor identified with TBUT score. Allergic conjunctivitis and intake of alcohol were significantly found to be protective risk factors using Schirmer 1 test.Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of DED among this cohort of bank workers, who were generally young.