Incidence and risk factors of symptomatic dry eye disease in Asian Malays from the Singapore Malay Eye Study.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the incidence of symptomatic dry eye disease (SDED) and associated risk factors in a well-characterized cohort of ethnic Malays in Singapore.

METHODS

We included 1682 participants (mean age [SD]: 57 [10]years; 55.4% female) without SDED from the Singapore Malay Eye Study (SiMES), a population-based longitudinal study with baseline examination (SiMES-1) conducted between 2004 and 2006, and follow-up examination (SiMES-2) conducted between 2010 and 2013. SDED was considered to be present if a participant answered "often" or "all the time" to any of the six questions from the Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study dry eye questionnaire. Age-standardized incidence of SDED was calculated as the crude 6-year cumulative incidence standardized to Singapore's population census. Gender-stratified multivariable log-binomial regression models were utilized to determine the independent risk factors of incident SDED.

RESULTS

At the 6-year follow-up, 86 of 1682 participants had developed SDED, which was equivalent to an age-standardized 6-year incidence of 5.1% (95% CI 4.1-6.4%). There were no differences in the incidence of SDED between men and women (P = 0.9). Multivariable models revealed that presence of glaucoma and poorer self-rated health were independently associated with incident SDED in men (P = 0.003 and 0.03, respectively), while contact lens wear (P = 0.002), history of thyroid disease (P = 0.03), and having had cataract surgery (P = 0.02) were predictive of incident SDED in women.

CONCLUSION

One in twenty adult Malays developed SDED over a 6-year period. Risk factors for incident SDED were different between men and women. Future studies and public health interventions should consider this gender-specific difference in risk factors.