The Prevalence of Dry Eye Syndrome in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients in Saudi Arabia

STUDY AIM- The purpose of this study is to identify the prevalence of dry eye syndrome among Rheumatoid Arthritis patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS- This is a cross sectional study which includes 268 Rheumatoid Arthritis patients from Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic at King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Data collection was obtained through McMonnies questionnaire, which is used for dry eye syndrome screening. Data analysis included descriptive statistics computed for continuous variables, including means, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values, as well as 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS- Out of 268 Rheumatoid Arthritis patients, 79.9% were females and 20.1% were males, as Rheumatoid Arthritis is more common in females. Among females, a majority lied above the age of 45 with a percentage of 70.6%. Among our cohort, 59.3% (95% CI- 53.3–65) of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients had dry eye syndrome with 12.6% males and 87.4% females. The prevalence of dry eye syndrome was significantly associated with the duration of diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis as 66.7% of patients who are diagnosed for more than 10 years had dry eye syndrome. CONCLUSION- In our cohort, 59.3% of patients had dry eye syndrome and 47.4% of them were aged above 45 years and 11.9% were between 25-45 years old. Females were more commonly affected with dry eye syndrome with a percentage of 87.4%. Therefore, screening for Dry Eye Syndrome in RA patients has a significant clinical value.