Post-pandemic dry eye issues

Simon Jones: How have new living and working patterns as a result of the Covid-19 affected the prevalence of dry eye and what has been the severity of the condition?

Dr Matthew Olsen: The World Health Organization indicates that dry eye disease is increasingly linked to our lifestyle choices and is fast becoming a lifestyle epidemic. The Covid-19 pandemic has played a huge part in this as it has led to many of us becoming more dependent on using screens for work and education.

We recently surveyed the British public and over half of respondents stated they spend more than six hours a day in front of a screen, compared to pre-pandemic times, and as a result 40% of people have felt noticeably more tired and experienced watery eyes (34%). Increased screen time contributes to a rise in conditions such as dry eye disease, primarily due to our blinking frequency being reduced when we look at screens for too long, disrupting the moisture balance in our eyes.