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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Med.

Sec. Ophthalmology

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1541304

This article is part of the Research Topic Ocular Surface Disorders- An Insight View all 3 articles

Relationship between myopia and diagnosis rates of dry eye disease and related indicators: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
  • Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: The association between myopia and dry eye disease (DED) has recently garnered considerable attention. This study aimed to compare the diagnosis rates of DED and its indicators between myopic and emmetropic patients to elucidate the association between myopia and DED.Methods: We retrieved relevant literature published through November 2024 from English databases, such as PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, as well as Chinese databases, such as the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, VIP, and SinoMed. The studies were then screened for inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the basic information and outcome data of the included studies were recorded. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Finally, RevMan 5.3 was used to perform meta-, subgroup, and sensitivity analyses, as well as a publication bias assessment of the outcome data.Results: This study included 8 studies with a sample size of 14,232 patients. The meta-analysis showed that compared with emmetropic eyes, the diagnostic rate of DED in myopic eyes increased significantly, by 104% (odds ratio [OR] = 2.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.39–2.99, P = 0.0002, I2 = 91%), while the tear break-up time (BUT) was reduced significantly, by 6.31 s (weighted mean difference [WMD] = -6.31, 95% CI = -7.32 to -5.29, P < 0.00001, I2 = 0%). However, there was no significant difference in the rate of positive corneal staining (OR = 2.53, 95% CI = 0.22–29.07, P = 0.46, I2 = 68%). Funnel plots showed a potential publication bias in DED diagnosis rate, rate of positive corneal staining, and BUT. An evaluation showed that the evidence quality of DED diagnosis rate, BUT and rate of positive corneal staining were extremely low.Conclusion: There were significant differences in the DED diagnosis rate and BUT between myopic and emmetropic patients, suggesting that myopia may be a potential risk factor for DED. The regular screening for DED should be a focus in myopic populations to improve detection and diagnosis rates.

    Keywords: Myopia, Emmetropia, Dry eye disease, Systematic review, Meta-analysis

    Received: 07 Dec 2024; Accepted: 11 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Yu, Shi, Chen, Xie, Tang and Xiaolei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Kai Wu, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
    YAO Xiaolei, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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