Purpose : Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease that often begins in early childhood and may continue into adulthood. AD is associated with Ocular Surface Diseases (OSD) and AD severity, and comorbid bronchial asthma and rhinitis have been associated with increased prevalence of OSD in AD patients (1, 2). OSD is common in the general population and symptoms from the ocular surface do not always lead to examination and diagnosis by healthcare professionals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of self-reported symptoms from the ocular surface in AD patients compared to the population without AD.

Methods : A questionnaire study was conducted as a part of project FOREVER (Finding Ophthalmic Risk and Evaluating the Value of Eye exams and their predictive Reliability) to examine the relationship between eye and overall health in Danish citizens. Symptoms related to the ocular surface included red eyes, blurred vision, itching eyes, burning eyes, tearing, gritty eyes, and dry eyes. Logistic regression models were used to investigate associations between AD and the occurrence of symptoms related to the ocular surface.

Results : 20,909 people had completed the FOREVER questionnaire. 424, 1,836 and 18,649 participants answered that they have current AD, previously had AD, and never had AD, respectively. 71% (301/424) and 67% (1,233/1,836) in the group with current AD and previous AD experienced one or more ocular surface symptoms compared to 56% (11,170/18,649) in the non-AD group. The odds ratio of AD and ocular surface symptoms was 1.35 [1.09-1.68] and 1.17 [1.05-1.30] (p < 0.001) for current and previous AD when adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, and atopic comorbidities; bronchial asthma and rhinitis.

Conclusions : Our study found that participants with AD from the FOREVER cohort reported a higher occurrence of OSD symptoms compared to participants who have never suffered from AD. This suggest that AD patients are at higher risk of developing OSD symptoms.

This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.