Abstract
Purpose: Worldwide lockdown reduced global air pollution during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In this study, we evaluate whether the UK lockdown impacted upon dry eye symptoms in severe ocular surface disease (OSD) patients and whether there is a relationship with changes in air pollution levels.
Methods: 35 OSD patients (median age 70 (range 42-85) years; 17(48.5%) females; 22(63%) ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid; 3(9%) high-risk corneal transplant recipients; 4(12%) ulcerative keratitis; 2(6%) Stevens-Johnson syndrome; 3(9%) other (granulomatous polyangiitis, Sjögren’s syndrome, pemphigus vulgaris) maintained on systemic immunosuppression including mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine, tacrolimus, methotrexate and cyclophosphamide achieved a risk stratification score of >3, defined as coronavirus high-risk and fulfilled the government criteria for shielding for a minimum of 12 weeks. Symptoms and air pollutions data were considered from three different time periods categorised as pre, during and post-lockdown. Pre-lockdown symptoms were curated from hospital electronic databases using the OSDI© symptom questionnaire (Allergan plc, Irvine, CA) whilst during and post-lockdown data were obtained via postal hardcopy. Air pollution data for patient postcodes were derived from Department for Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and from the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) monitoring network for nitrogen dioxides (NO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) particulate matter 10µm (PM10) and 2.5µm (PM25).
Results: A 12% increase in symptom scores were observed during versus pre periods (36.11±16.09 vs 32.24±29.17, p=0.381). Similarly, a 19% reduction was observed between the during and post periods (36.11±16.09 vs 29.46 ± 26.29, p=0.144). However, significant reduction of NO2 (35%, from 17.11±6.87 to 11.17±4.79, p
Conclusions: Despite the reduction of air pollutants due to lockdown measures, dry eye symptoms experienced by immunosuppressed OSD patients were increased. This might be due to a range of environmental factors such as increase use of electronic blue screen electronic devices as well as the psychological impact of lockdown on patient wellbeing.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.
Methods: 35 OSD patients (median age 70 (range 42-85) years; 17(48.5%) females; 22(63%) ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid; 3(9%) high-risk corneal transplant recipients; 4(12%) ulcerative keratitis; 2(6%) Stevens-Johnson syndrome; 3(9%) other (granulomatous polyangiitis, Sjögren’s syndrome, pemphigus vulgaris) maintained on systemic immunosuppression including mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine, tacrolimus, methotrexate and cyclophosphamide achieved a risk stratification score of >3, defined as coronavirus high-risk and fulfilled the government criteria for shielding for a minimum of 12 weeks. Symptoms and air pollutions data were considered from three different time periods categorised as pre, during and post-lockdown. Pre-lockdown symptoms were curated from hospital electronic databases using the OSDI© symptom questionnaire (Allergan plc, Irvine, CA) whilst during and post-lockdown data were obtained via postal hardcopy. Air pollution data for patient postcodes were derived from Department for Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and from the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) monitoring network for nitrogen dioxides (NO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) particulate matter 10µm (PM10) and 2.5µm (PM25).
Results: A 12% increase in symptom scores were observed during versus pre periods (36.11±16.09 vs 32.24±29.17, p=0.381). Similarly, a 19% reduction was observed between the during and post periods (36.11±16.09 vs 29.46 ± 26.29, p=0.144). However, significant reduction of NO2 (35%, from 17.11±6.87 to 11.17±4.79, p
Conclusions: Despite the reduction of air pollutants due to lockdown measures, dry eye symptoms experienced by immunosuppressed OSD patients were increased. This might be due to a range of environmental factors such as increase use of electronic blue screen electronic devices as well as the psychological impact of lockdown on patient wellbeing.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1273 |
| Journal | Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS) |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2021 |
