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Abstract
Purpose
In this review, we aimed to investigate the literature on sex-specific prevalence of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) and to determine whether women or men are more at risk for MGD.
Methods
A search was conducted on PubMed using the terms: (Sex OR Gender OR prevalence) AND (Meibomian gland).
Results
Twenty-four relevant studies on MGD prevalence were identified, including 10 population-based and 14 hospital-based studies. Among the population-based studies, five studies reported higher rates among men, three studies found no differences, and one study observed higher rates among women. In the hospital-based studies, 10 studies reported no difference, two found higher rates among men, and one found higher among women. In the reviewed literature, there was a considerable variation between studies in terms of quality, sample size, age ranges, diagnostic criteria.
Conclusions
While most of the population-based studies suggest a higher prevalence among men, the majority of clinic-based studies show no significant difference. Further research with larger samples and standardized criteria is needed to determine whether men are indeed more susceptible to MGD.
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Disclosure
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.