Evaluation of dry eye syndrome and associated factors among university students

Dry eye syndrome, also known as dry eye, is the most common ocular suface disorder that erodes the quality of life. In this descriptive study, we investigated the incidence of dry eye syndrome and the factors associated with it among university students. The study was conducted between May-November 2019 among students from different faculties studying at Baskent University. From 12961 students in total,400 students were included in the study after stratified sampling was applied. Data was collected by using personal information form, Mcmonnies Dry Eye Questionnaire to investigate dry eye syndrome and associated factors, Ocular Surface Disease İndex and Young Internet Addiction Test Short Form for the evaluation of internet addiction among the participants. By entering the SPSS database, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis H, Tukey and Tamhane's T2 tests were conducted. Most participants (89,8%) were aged less than 25 years, more than half of them (62,0%) were female, (95,2%) of the participants have no medical histroy of chronic disease, (51%) of them have eye diseases, 47% use glasses or contact lenses, while the majority (99,5%) use the internet. The mean value of Young Internet Addiction Test Short Form was 28,27±8,29 which could be interpreted as mild level addiction. According to the results of the students' Ocular Surface Disease Index, 19.7% of them had mild, 15.6% of them had moderate and 40% had severe dry eye syndrome. Ocular Surface Disease İndex scores were high in 4th year students, students who use eyeglasses or contact lenses, students with ocular disease history and students who use internet for educational purposes. 18,8% of the participants have dry eye syndrome based on Mcmonnies Dry Eye Questionnaire results. Ocular Surface Disease İndex scores were high in 4th year students, students who use eyeglasses/ contact lenses, students with ocular disease or ocular surgery history and students who use internet for educational purposes. There was a moderate positive correlation between Mcmonnies Dry Eye Questionnaire scores and Ocular Surface Disease İndex scores (r= 0,546, p=0,000). While there was a weak positive correlation between Ocular Surface Disease Index scores and Young Internet Addiction Test Short Form scores (r= 0,227; p=0,000). According to multiple linear regression analysis, 15,0% of the variability in students' OSDI score is explained by the independent variables gender (β = 0,183, p˂0,001) and have eye diseases (β = 0,319, p˂0,001) in the model (R = 0,387, R2 = 0,150, Adjusted R2 = 0,143, F = 2,448, p <0,05). As a result; according to the Ocular Surface Disease Index, it was determined that the prevalence of dry eye was high in students. It was found that there was a correlation between Mcmonnies Dry Eye Questionnaire and OSDI scores, but the sensitivity of Mcmonnies Dry Eye Questionnaire to detect dry eye syndrome in young populations such as university students was limited. In the analysis with OSDI, it was determined that gender (being a woman) and having eye disease are factors that increase dry eye syndrome. In line with these results; It is recommended to make eye screening for the awareness of dry eye syndrome in university students and for the early diagnosis and treatment of dry eye syndrome. Key Words: Dry eye syndrome, ocular surface disease index, internet addiction, nursing.