Assessment of dry eye in pediatric population along with ocular surface disorder and visual display terminal

Background: Dry eye is a disease condition wherein the ocular surface is either not uniformly or not completely lubricated by tear film. Dry eye is less prevalent in children, but if observed it may be a manifestation of conditions like Steven Jonson syndrome, Sjogren’s syndrome, blepharitis, MGD or VKC. Therefore, evaluation of dry eye may aid in effective and timely treatment of other life-threatening diseases in children. Aim of current study was determination of dry eye in pediatrics and to investigate its association with ocular surface disorders like MGD, VKC and VDT.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted on 400 patients. All patients were screened for OSDI and patients having index score >11 were investigated for dry eye disease, based on inter blink interval and tear-film breakup time determined using slit lamp and through Schirmer’s test. Dry eye patients were further investigated to determine type and causative factors for dry eye.Results: 25 patients exhibited bilateral dry eye with >12 score. Children of age group 7-18 years were commonly affected. Diseases commonly observed to be associated with dry eye in children were VKC, MGD, or visual display terminal caused due to over use of smart phone and digital screen.Conclusions: The evaporative dry eye due to MGD and VDT is more common in pediatric age group in comparison to aqueous deficiency dry eye. Overuse of smart phones, tablets or computers increases the prevalence of dry eye which inturn affect their outdoor activity, studies and over all development of children. 