Is there a seasonal relationship with idiopathic anterior uveitis presentation?

Abstract

PurposeTrigger mechanisms for relapse of idiopathic acute anterior uveitis (AAU) include psychological stresses and depression. Seasonality is known to affect other stress related diseases such as bipolar disorder, with depression episodes more common in autumn and winter. This study aims to investigate whether seasonality is related to AAU presentations.MethodsThe electronic patient records for the eye casualty department were retrospectively searched between January 2010 and December 2014 for all new presentations of AAU. Time of presentation was grouped into seasons. The p value was calculated from two tailed z scores of the season sample means.ResultsTwo thousand, five hundred and sixty‐three new presentations of AAU were recorded during the study period. Of these 634 (24.73%) presentations were in spring, 652 (25.44%) were in summer, 647 (25.24%) were in autumn and 630 (24.58%) were in winter. No temporal correlation was found for AAU presentations during either autumn (p = 0.86) or winter (p = 0.76).ConclusionsNo seasonal relationship with AAU presentations has been found. Stress as a trigger for AAU relapses is still not fully understood but associations are more likely to be found at the individual level.