TY - JOUR AU - Lam, Douglas KT AU - Wong, Victoria WY AU - Chow, Vanissa WS AU - Chi, Stanley CC PY - 2011/12/01 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Epidemiology of dry eye syndrome in Hong Kong: a cross-sectional population-based study JF - Hong Kong Journal of Ophthalmology JA - Hong Kong J Ophthalmol VL - 15 IS - 2 SE - Original Articles DO - UR - https://hkjo.hk/index.php/hkjo/article/view/41 SP - 58-62 AB - <p><strong>Aims:</strong><strong> </strong>To evaluate the epidemiology of dry eye syndrome in a population-based sample in Hong Kong and to assess the correlation between findings from Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire and Schirmer’s test.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong><strong> </strong>In this cross-sectional study in a health promotion program, all subjects were asked to complete the Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire and those who scored above 20 were asked to undergo Schirmer’s test with topical anesthesia.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong><strong> </strong>A total of 235 subjects were recruited of whom 110 underwent the Schirmer’s test. The prevalence of dry eye syndrome was estimated to be 7.7% using a definition including both subjective and objective measurements. There was no significant correlation between the Ocular Surface Disease Index scores and average Schirmer’s test scores (Spearman rho = 0.075, p = 0.44). Older subjects (aged 46-55 years) had a significantly higher mean index score than younger persons (aged 18-25 years) [p = 0.006]. An inverse correlation between daily hours of computer use and Schirmer’s test scores was noted (Spearman rho = −0.20, p = 0.032).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Dry eye syndrome is a prevalent condition locally. Although the Chinese-translated <span style="font-size: 10px;">version of the Ocular Surface Disease Index was found to be a useful and convenient instrument in evaluating symptoms of dry eye syndrome, its use as the sole instrument to diagnose dry eye syndrome in this locality appears questionable.</span></p> ER -