Prevalence of Dry Eye Disease in Glass Industry Workers of Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, India: A Cross-sectional Observational Study

Abstract

Introduction: Dry eye disease is a rising occupational hazard in India. Firozabad, is known for its glass manufacturing work worldwide. As there is limited evidence available on dry eye prevalence in glass industry workers, the present study was undertaken. Aim: To find out the prevalence and severity of Dry Eye Disease (DED) in glass industry workers of Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional observational study was conducted in Department of Ophthalmology at Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, from March 2020 to September 2021 among the glass industry workers at Firozabad. It was a field survey, conducted in the factories only. Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) Questionnaire was presented to 500 randomly selected glass industry workers to screen for dry eye disease. Based on subject’s response to OSDI questionnaire, score was calculated and then evaluated with an OSDI chart to assess the magnitude of dry eye symptoms. The final diagnosis and grading of dry eye was done on the basis of Schirmer’s test. Chi-square test was used to detect the association between variables. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 28.0) was used for analysis. A p-value <0.05 was regarded as significant. Results : In the present study, the overall dry eye prevalence in glass industry workers was 28%. Mild dry eye was present in 3.2% of workers, moderate dry eye in 16.8%, and severe dry eye was present in 8% of glass workers. There was significant association between dry eye and working hours (per day) in two different study groups (<8 hrs and >8 hrs) (χ2 =20.9, p-value <0.001). There was also a significant association between the prevalence of dry eye and the years of exposure (in years) in the glass industry (χ2 =51.4, p-value <0.001). Conclusion: Prevalence of dry eye in glass industry workers is significantly high. Glass industry workers should undergo regular eye checkups to pick up DED as the earliest.