Global Prevalence of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the pooled prevalence of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) and evaluate its risk factors by gender, age, and ethnicity.

Methods: Articles were searched reporting the prevalence of MGD from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase databases.

Results: The estimated pooled prevalence of MGD was 0.358 (95% CI 0.26–0.46; I²: 99.57%). The prevalence of MGD was 0.358 (95% CI 0.24–0.50) in clinical and 0.359 (95% CI 0.22–0.52) in population-based studies. Men were more prone to MGD than women (OR: 1.24, 95% CI 1.01–1.52, p = 0.034). The rate of MGD was between 21.2% and 29.5% in Africans and Caucasians, to 71.0% in Arabs, and 67.5% in Hispanics.

Conclusion: MGD is a quite prevalent disorder with an estimated pooled prevalence of 35.8%. Men are more prone to MGD than women. There is a large variation between studies in terms of quality, sample size, age ranges, diagnostic criteria, and ethnicity.

KEYWORDS:

• Meibomian gland dysfunction
• prevalence
• epidemiology
• meta-analysis
• inflammation

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.