Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye disease in young and middle-aged office employee:a Xi’an Study

AIM:To estimate the prevalence of and risk factors for dry eye disease(DED)in young and middle-aged office employee in Xi’an.METHODS:This cross-sectional study of the prevalence of and risk factors for DED investigated 486 young and middle-aged Chinese office employee in Xi’an.DED symptoms and potential risk factors were assessed using the ocular surface disease index combined with a risk factors questionnaire,and tear function was evaluated using the tear film break-up time and Schirmer’s test.Possible risk factors for DED were estimated by binary Logistic regression analysis.RESULTS:DED was diagnosed in 100 females and 96 males,giving a prevalence of 40.3%95%confidence interval(CI)=36.0%-44.7%].The multivariate binary Logistic regression model indicated that the possible risk factors for DED were being female(OR=1.592,95%CI=1.034-2.451,P=0.035),being aged≥40 y(OR=1.593,95%CI=1.034-2.454,P=0.035),using a VDT daily for>6 h(OR=1.990,95%CI=1.334-2.971,P=0.001),the presence of central air conditioning(OR=1.548,95%CI=1.053-2.276,P=0.026),and self-reported dryness of the mouth and nose(OR=1.589,95%CI=1.071-2.357,P=0.021).CONCLUSION:There is a high prevalence of clinically diagnosed DED in young and middle-aged video displayterminal(VDT)users.Interventions against the modifiable risk factors should be taken to prevent the occurrence and development of DED in this population.

[Online First]Cost-effectiveness analysis of tele- retinopathy of prematurity screening in Iran

AIM: To conduct a cost-utility analysis of the tele- retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening program against no screening. METHODS: A decision tree model was developed to identify and treat the infants with threshold ROP through the Tele screening system compared with no screening program from the societal perspective. We used the Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) index to measure the scenarios'' effectiveness, which was discounted for the future years by 0.058. One hundred twenty-six randomly selected newborns with ROP required treatment were investigated to extract the treatment information. We considered the direct medical and non-medical costs in cost calculations analyzed by the bottom-up approach. The figures of the model''s inputs were calculated using the Monte Carlo simulation that generated 1000 random iteration of the data, and a one-way sensitivity analysis was performed on the model to cope with the potential uncertainties. RESULTS: The total and per capita needed the budget to establish a tele- ROP screening system were estimated at over 1.5 million and 35.13 USD, respectively. The total cost of identifying and treating an ROP case in Tele-screening and no screening strategies were obtained as 108.72 and 63.52 USD, respectively, and their lifetime discounted QALY gained were calculated as 15.39 and 15.11, respectively. Therefore, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of Tele- screening strategy against the competitive strategy was achieved as 161.43 USD. CONCLUSION: Tele- ROP screening program is one of the most cost-effective interventions in the Iranian health system and has a high priority to receive a budget for implementation.