Dry eye symptoms using the Ocular Surface Disease Index in Sweden: a short report from a pilot study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dry eye symptoms in the Swedish population using a web-based version of the ocular surface disease index (OSDI). A web-based version of the OSDI questions was implemented in an online form using a software developed by Artologik. The link to the form was distributed via Linnaeus University social media pages. Basic demographic information such as age, sex and county of residence was also collected. A total of 404 complete responses were received, 303 respondents (75%) were females, the median age = 39 (interquartile range = 28-53) years, median OSDI-score = 19 (interquartile range = 9-32). Crude prevalence of dry eye symptoms (categories mild to severe) was 65% (95% CI = 62-75). The difference in prevalence between males and females was statistically significant (chi-square test, p = 0.007). The current study found that the prevalence of dry eye symptoms among a sample of the Swedish population was 65%. These results highlight the need to investigate further the prevalence and risk factors for dry eye disease in the Swedish population.

What are patient-reported outcome measures and why should optometrists care about it?

“…Even researchers seem to have incomplete understanding of existing scales or PROMS and tend to misuse them. An example is the use of the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), a very popular scale to assess symptoms of ocular disease problems (Roth et al, 2022) that was initially developed by Schiffman et al (2000). Despite lacking validation for use in children, it has been used for that age category in what are expected to be high quality studies (Chen et al, 2021).…”