Do dry eye test results differ in AC and non-AC office rooms? A comparative study in healthy young adults

Abstract

: To study the effect of air-conditioning of ophthalmic investigation rooms on dry eye test results in healthy young adults. 100 healthy individuals in the age group of 20-30 years underwent dry eye evaluation in a non-AC room and same tests were repeated by the same investigator after exposing the participants to AC room for one hour with a pre-set temperature of 20C and humidity 60%. Assessment of symptoms suggestive of dry eye syndrome was done using the validated 5-Item Dry Eye Questionnaire and dry eye symptoms were found to be present in one-third of the participants. The mean values with standard deviation along with the p value were calculated for blink rate, TBUT, Schirmer’s test at the end of 1 minute and at the end of 5 minutes were calculated for both non AC room and AC room groups. Statistical analysis was done using the Wilcoxon test. The average blink rate in the AC room was found to be higher in the AC rooms (12.7± 2.86 per min) than in the non- AC rooms (10.12 ± 1.81 per min) with a statistically significant difference (Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and p= 0.000). The average TBUT values in the AC rooms (18.84 ± 6.53s) were significantly longer than in the non-AC rooms (13.63 ± 4.29) and the difference was statistically significant (p= 0.000). The average Schirmer’s test value at the end of 1 minute was found to be higher in non AC rooms (11.49 ± 3.48) when compared to AC rooms (9.90 ± 3.02) and the difference was statistically significant. The average Schirmer’s test value at 5 minutes was also found to be higher in non-AC room (28.92 ± 4.81) when compared to the AC room (21.92 ± 4.41) and the difference was statistically significant (p value of 0.000). We found significant impact on the tear evaporative parameters in young healthy individuals with the air conditioning of the room.