The association between heavy metals and dry eye syndrome in Korean adults: the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Session Details

Session Title: Presented Poster Session: Infections & Syndromes

Venue: Poster Village: Pod 3

First Author: : J.Lee SOUTH KOREA

Co Author(s): :    S. Jung   S. Lee                    

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To investigate association of blood level of heavy metals and dry eye syndrome in Korean population.

Setting:

Siloam Eye Hospital, Seoul, Korea, Department of Ophthalmology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Bucheon, Korea, the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES)

Methods:

2811 patients who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2010 to 2012 were enrolled. All subjects were Korean with age over forty. Subjects were subdivided by blood level of Lead, Mercury, and Cadmium respectively. Relationship between blood heavy metal concentration and dry eye syndrome was analyzed by logistic regression analysis.

Results:

When socio-demographic features such as age, gender, life style were not considered, the blood mercury level seemed to have no correlation with the prevalence of dry eye syndrome. However, it was found out to be statistically related with the dry eye syndrome when socio-demographic features were included. Positive relation was revealed between the blood level of mercury and the prevalence of dry eye syndrome in the female; however, such relation was not found in the male population. The blood level of Lead and Cadmium were not statistically related to the prevalence of dry eye syndrome.

Conclusions:

The prevalence of dry eye syndrome was associated with the blood mercury level but not with the blood level of lead and cadmium. These results indicate that high blood mercury level could be a risk factor for dry eye syndrome development. It seems reasonable to recommend population with occupational exposure to mercury to be evaluated regularly for detection of dry eye syndrome.

Financial Disclosure:

None