COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TEAR FILM IN DIGITAL SCREEN USERS VERSUS NON-USERS.

Abstract

Background- Dry eye disease is the most frequent ophthalmologic disorder seen in routine clinical practice. The prevalence estimates for the general population vary greatly, from 5% to 50%. It is one of the major contributors to lower quality of life among the young population and may have an adverse effect on mental health. AimThe study aims to compare tear lm among digital screen users and non-users. This was a cros Material and Methods- ssectional study conducted on 150 patients who were divided into 2 groups. One group was of digital screen users and the other was of non-users. The patients were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and the study was started after getting ethical clearance. A thorough history was taken and the OSDI questionnaire was lled followed by an examination on IDRA. The values of NIBUT, Interferometry, tear meniscus height, and meibomian gland loss were calculated and analysis was done using STATA and SPSS software. In our study, we found that the tear lm in users Findings- was not as healthy as compared to non-users. In our study, we also found that out of 75 users, more than half of users were having a severe form of DED. It was seen that the values of mean NIBUT, Interferometry, and tear meniscus height were lower in the user group than in non-users and users have more meibomian gland loss in comparison to non-users. The study has a p-value of 0.001. Conclusion- The study concludes that the symptoms and signs of DED are more common among digital screen users than non-users. The main reason behind this is improper knowledge about what measures can be taken to prevent this and long continuous screen hours.