Perception and awareness of the public about presbyopia and its corrective approaches in Saudi Arabia: a population-based survey.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated patients' awareness of presbyopia and its management approaches and their preferred methods for near vision correction. METHODS: In Saudi Arabia, 785 participants (aged between 35 and 60 years) completed a structured survey online, consisting of hard copies and direct interviews. The survey consisted of twenty-eight items divided into three parts. It was designed to record participants' awareness of and preferences for presbyopia and its refractive corrections. Nonparametric tests and descriptive analyses were conducted to analyse participants' responses. RESULT: Approximately half of the participants had difficulty with near vision activities, such as reading newspapers or using mobile phones. Among all the participants, 76% were not aware of presbyopia. The prevalence of uncorrected presbyopia was 48% of the 785. The majority (82%) felt that spectacles were acceptable for correction of presbyopia. Most reported that they did not experience social stigma when using reading spectacles (87% of participants). When asked if they were aware of management approaches other than spectacles, 72% responded with not at all. Most participants had no earlier knowledge of the use of multifocal contact lenses or eye drops for presbyopia correction (67% and 82%, respectively). In the present study, some tendencies to use corrective approaches to presbyopia other than spectacles were noted. Finally, participants' age, sex, region, education, and income had a statistically significant impact on essential parts of their responses (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Presbyopia is a highly prevalent age-related ocular disorder, and a significant percentage of cases are uncorrected due to a lack of awareness or reluctance to wear spectacles. More efficient health education about presbyopia and its corrective alternatives is urgently needed.

Assessment of tear film parameters post-treatment with commercial eyelid cleaning wipes: a pilot study.

AIM: To investigate the short-term effects of commercially available eyelid-cleaning wipes on film parameters. METHODS: This study enrolled 48 healthy participants aged 20-35y (both males and females). Clinical assessment included the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, non-invasive tear break-up time (NITBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), and lipid layer pattern (LLP). Based on these initial results, participants were categorized as either non-dry eye or dry eye. Participants in each group were randomly allocated to either Blephaclean® or Systane® treatments. Changes in NITBUT, TMH, and LLP levels before and after lid wipe treatment were assessed. RESULTS: The dry eye group exhibited significantly higher OSDI scores and lower NITBUT and TMH levels than in the non-dry eye group (P<0.001). Following the application of eyelid wipes (Systane® wipes), dry eye subjects experienced a significant improvement in NITBUT levels (P=0.0014) compared to the non-dry eye individuals. Although the remaining participants showed a marginal increase in TMH and NITBUT levels, these changes did not achieve statistical significance (P>0.05). Similarly, the LLP levels were significantly improved with Systane® (P<0.001) post-treatment compared to individuals in the non-dry eye group. However, the dry eye subjects showed higher post-treatment LLP levels than the untreated group (P<0.02). CONCLUSION: The short-term effects of Systane® eyelid wipes on tear film parameters suggest their effectiveness in dry eye disease. Nonetheless, further exploration of their long-term impact is essential to justify their cost effectiveness and efficacy in treating both aqueous deficiency and evaporative dryness.

Efficacy of hydroxypropyl-guar drops in improving tear film index and ocular surface dynamics using two treatment methods under a controlled desiccating environment.

AIM: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of hp-guar eye drops on tear film index and ocular surface dynamics under desiccating conditions using protection and relief treatment modalities. METHODOLOGY: The 12 normal, non-dry eye participants were subjected to adverse environmental conditions using a Controlled Environment Chamber (CEC) where the relative humidity (RH) was 5% and the ambient temperature was 21 °C. The participants were screened for ocular symptoms, tear osmolarity, ocular surface temperature (OST), tear production using the Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire (OSDI), OcuSense TearLab Osmometer, FLIR System ThermaCAM P620, and Schirmer strips. Tear production was calculated by the Tear Function Index test (TFI). RESULTS: The mean tear film osmolarity decreased significantly from 296 mOsm/L at 40% RH to 285 mOsm/L at 5% RH (p = 0.01). Conflicting responses were seen for osmolarity in protection and relief. Mean tear osmolarity was significantly higher in the protection method in comparison to the relief method (p = 0.005). The mean TFI increased from 557 at 40% to 854 at 5% (p = 0.02). A significant increase in TFI was observed in the relief method in comparison with both 40% (p = 0.001) and 5% (p = 0.04). In the relief method, the mean TFI score went up to 1139 when hp-guar was installed. A significant improvement in ocular comfort was experienced in both the protection (p = 0.041) and relief (p = 0.010) methods at 5% RH. The instillation of hp-guar drops in the relief method resulted in a significant reduction in OST. The mean OST dropped to 33.01 ºC, significantly lower than the recorded OST for both normal (p = 0.040) and dry (p = 0.014) environmental conditions. CONCLUSION: Hp-guar drops significantly improve tear film parameters under a desiccating environment, however, tear film parameters respond differently to the management modalities. In the protection method, tear film osmolarity was protected against a dry environment, while in the relief mode, an improvement in tear production and a decrease in ocular surface temperature were seen. Hp-guar performance could be maximized for the management of exposure to adverse environments by using a treatment protocol that targets the most affected parameters in each group of patients. Using CEC has the potential to provide researchers with a readily available method to evaluate the efficiency of tear supplementation.