Evaluation of ocular surface disease due to digital usage during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: This is the first study to see the effects of COVID-19 pandemic still persisting even after lockdown restrictions were relaxed on ocular health. Aims: To evaluate the presence and severity of ocular surface disease due to digital media usage in COVID-19 pandemic and to assess the severity with comorbidities such as refractive error, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Settings and Design: This is a cross-sectional study conducted via an online survey. Materials and Methods: An online survey was conducted among 217 individuals using ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire to assess the severity of dry eye disease due to digital media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the OSDI score, ocular symptoms were classified into normal, mild, moderate, and severe. Statistical Analysis: Continuous variables were presented as mean ± standard deviation or median (Q1, Q3). The categorical variables were presented as frequency and percentage. Results: We included 217 respondents with 55 with mild (25.3%), 25 with moderate (11.5%) and 23 with severe dry eye (10.5%). The average number of hours spent on digital media was between 4 and 5 h before the pandemic and 6–8 h after the pandemic. The dry eye disease was also found to be associated with refractive errors, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the ocular health in general and had an impact on the dry eye disease in particular due to increase in the digital media usage and other associated risk factors, which has affected the work performance and efficiency was reduced.