Clinical Objective Dry Eye Tests in a Population of Tannery Workers in North India

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To analyze the correlation between subjective symptoms and clinical signs of dry eye among tannery workers.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, three classic clinical tests, namely the fluorescein tear film break-up time (FTBUT) test, the fluorescein staining (FS) test, and the Schirmer test (ST), were performed to assess the clinical signs of dry eye disease in 246 tanners who were found symptomatic for dry eye in a prior ocular surface disease index survey.

Results: All workers were male with a mean age of 35 ± 9 years, and the mean duration of work at tanneries was 8 ± 5 years. Among 246 symptomatic subjects, the FTBUT test, the FS test and the ST were positive in 63.8%, 30.9% and 41.9% workers, respectively. Mean FTBUT and ST scores were 10.6 ± 4.2 seconds and 10.1 ± 7.7mm, respectively. Mean FTBUT for mild, moderate and severe symptom categories differed significantly. Mean ST scores for the mild symptom group were significantly higher than that of the moderate group (p < 0.0001). The FTBUT and ST score showed a strong negative correlation with severity of symptoms (p < 0.0001). A moderate positive correlation was observed between FS positivity and increasing symptom severity (p < 0.0001). The effect of age was insignificant for FTBUT (p = 0.10), while significant for ST score (p < 0.001). The effect of duration of tannery work was significant for both FTBUT and ST scores (p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: Clinical tests correlated well with symptom severity among tanners, and a multifactorial etiology is suggested for dry eye diseases.

KEYWORDS:

• Dry eye
• ocular surface disease index
• Schirmer test
• tannery
• tear film break-up time

Acknowledgments

This submission has not been published anywhere previously and is also not simultaneously being considered for any other publication. However, this study was conducted as part of a study which has been published online in the Journal Cutaneous and Ocular Toxicology as “A questionnaire-based survey of dry eye disease among leather tannery workers in Kanpur, India: a case-control study.”

Declaration of interest

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

This study did not get any financial support.