Abstract

We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 110 patients from Iraq to evaluate the impact of keratoconjunctivitis sicca on dry eyes. Several different hospitals were visited for data collection during the one-year period ranging from 1-9-2022 to 1-10-2023. In this study, the quality of life of patients with dry eyes was evaluated using the Visual Function Questionnaire 25, where The NEI VFQ-25 (25-Item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire). The research employed a cross-sectional design to collect data from 110 randomly selected hospitals having 60 male and 50 female respondents where Simple diagnostic criteria were prevalent: foreign body sensation for 20 patients, burning for 25 patients, itching for 15 patients, Blurred vision for 30 patients, red eyes for ten patients, Contact lens intolerance for ten patients. In this particular study, the logistic regression analysis showed that there are certain common elements that put one at risk for getting an infection: bulbar conjunctival redness (OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 2.1-3.9, P < 0.001), bulbar conjunctival oedema (OR = 3.1, 95% CI = 2.1-4.4, P < 0.001), itchy eye (OR = 3.3, 95% CI = 2.3-5.5, P < 0.001), and tearing (OR = 4.2, 95% CI = 3.4-6.2, P < 0.001). It can be concluded that the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of keratoconjunctivitis sicca are consistent with those previously described in the specialized literature with respect to age groups, sex, and the primary symptoms observed.