Dry Eye

A clear majority of patients with chronic pain are women; however, it has been surprisingly difficult to determine whether this sex bias corresponds to actual sex differences in pain sensitivity. A survey of the currently available epidemiological and laboratory data indicates that the evidence for clinical and experimental sex differences in pain is overwhelming. Various explanations for this phenomenon have been given, ranging from experiential and sociocultural differences in pain experience between men and women to hormonally and genetically driven sex differences in brain neurochemistry.

The report of the Epidemiology Subcommittee of the 2007 Dry Eye WorkShop summarizes current knowledge on the epidemiology of dry eye disease, providing prevalence and incidence data from various populations. It stresses the need to expand epidemiological studies to additional geographic regions, to incorporate multiple races and ethnicities in future studies, and to build a consensus on dry eye diagnostic criteria for epidemiological studies. Recommendations are made regarding several characteristics of dry eye questionnaires that might be suitable for use in epidemiological studies and randomized controlled clinical trials. Risk factors for dry eye and morbidity of the disease are identified, and the impact of dry eye disease on quality of life and visual function are outlined. Suggestions are made for further prospective research that would lead to improvement of both eye and general public health.

Dry eye syndrome (DES) is believed to be one of the most common ocular problems in the United States (US), particularly among older women. However, there are few studies describing the magnitude of the problem in women and how this may vary with demographic characteristics. Cross-sectional prevalence survey. we surveyed 39,876 US women participating in the Women's Health Study about a history of diagnosed DES and dry eye symptoms. we defined DES as the presence of clinically diagnosed DES or severe symptoms (both dryness and irritation constantly or often). We calculated the age-specific prevalence of DES and adjusted the overall prevalence to the age distribution of women in the US population. We used logistic regression to examine associations between DES and other demographic factors. The prevalence of DES increased with age, from 5.7% among women or = 75 years old. The age-adjusted prevalence of DES was 7.8%, or 3.23 million women aged > or = 50 in the US. Compared with Whites, Hispanic (odds ratio [OR] = 1.81, confidence interval [CI] = 1.18-2.80) and Asian (OR = 1.77, CI = 1.17-2.69) women were more likely to report severe symptoms, but not clinically diagnosed DES. There were no significant differences by income (P([trend]) =.78), but more educated women were less likely to have DES (P([trend]) =.03). Women from the South had the highest prevalence of DES, though the magnitude of geographic differences was modest. Dry eye syndrome leading to a clinical diagnosis or severe symptoms is prevalent, affecting over 3.2 million American women middle-aged and older. Although the condition is more prevalent among older women, it also affects many women in their 40s and 50s. Further research is needed to better understand DES and its impact on public health and quality of life.