A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON DRY EYE SYNDROME BETWEEN INDOOR AND OUTDOOR WORKERS IN ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY, UTURU.

This study was aimed to compare dry eye syndrome between indoor and outdoor workers in Abia State University. A total number of 100 subjects were examined which comprised of 57 males and 43 females between the ages 20–70 years. Tear film section was assessed using Schirmer’s test strip of about 35 mm long, mounted on a stopwatch for time keeping while test was going on. The Schirmer’s strip was laid on the lower eyelids of the subjects and the subjects’ eyes were closed for 5 minutes. The strip was removed and the reading was taken note; less than 5 mm signified severe dry eye, 5–10 mm signified moderate dry eye, 10–15 mm signified mild dry eye, greater than 15 mm signified normal. The right eye and the left eye of the subjects were assessed respectively. The objectives of this study was to determine if dry eyes were more prevalent in indoor or outdoor workers, to determine the effect of age on the prevalence of dry eyes between indoor and outdoor workers of Abia State University, to determine if sex has an influence on the prevalence of dry eye among indoor and outdoor workers in Abia State University, and to determine the proportion of dry eye subjects who are willing to accept possible solutions to dry eye syndrome. Data collected was analysed using SPSS version 26.0 for Windows. Association between categorical variables were done using logistic Chi-square, P-value < 0.05. The result showed that more than half of the study subjects (60%) were aged between 21 and 40 years. The mean ± SD age was 39.55 ±, minimum age was 24 years while maximum age was 65 years. Among the study subjects were more motorcyclists (31%), lecturers (15%), cleaners (10%), hostel porters (9%) and security men (9%).