Prevalence of Ocular Surface Disease Symptoms in High School Students in Monterrey, Mexico

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of dry eye disease symptoms and contact lens wear in Mexican high school students. Methods: A cross-sectional association study included a group of high school students who were selected from a random sampling of classrooms. The authors used the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire as a surrogate measure for dry eye disease symptoms, and contact lens wear was also investigated. Results: Seven hundred fifty-nine students with a mean age of 16.12 ± 0.96 years were surveyed and 55.7% of the students were girls (423 of 759). The average OSDI score was 25.11 ± 20.61 points. Girls had higher scores (28.25 ± 21.48 points) than boys (21.14 ± 18.74 points), and the difference was statistically significant (P < .001). Forty-three students (6.1%) wore contact lenses and had higher OSDI scores (34.26 ± 23.13 and 24.51 ± 20.31 points, respectively) and the difference was also statistically significant (P = .002). Conclusions: Symptoms of mild and moderate dry eye disease are prevalent in high school students and, as reported in previous studies, girls are more affected than boys.