ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Ophthalmol.
Sec. Cornea and Refractive Surgery
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fopht.2025.1610763
This article is part of the Research TopicOcular Surface Disorders- An InsightView all 6 articles
Prevalence and risk factors of dry eye symptoms in Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Eastern Health Cluster, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
- 2King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 3Prince Mohammed Bin Nasser Hospital, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
- 4Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
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Purpose: Dry eye syndrome (DES) is characterized by tear film and ocular surface disruptions. Symptomatic DES, one of the most common ocular diseases, reduces the quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of and possible risk factors for DES in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: This observational, cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2018 and May 2023. This study was conducted with 1061 participants using an online survey that included questions on sociodemographic characteristics, dry eye symptoms, possible factors related to dry eye, and chronic comorbidities. Dry eye symptoms were evaluated using the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI). Results: The overall prevalence of dry eye symptoms was 59.9%, with 19.7% of the respondents having mild, 14.0% having moderate, and 26.2% having severe dry eye symptoms. A statistically significant difference in dry eye symptoms prevalence was observed between males and females (X2 = 54.167; p = 0.000), with females (68.4%) being more commonly affected than males (52.2%). Moreover, Female participants were 1.78 times more likely to develop DES than males, and this association remained statistically significant after adjustment (OR = 1.78; 95% CI: 1.37–2.31). Smoking (p = 0.44), computer use (p = 0.87), and mobile phone use (p = 0.69), were not significantly associated with DES prevalence. Conclusion: Dry eye symptoms are highly prevalent in Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia, affecting nearly 60% of the population. Female sex was a significant risk factor, while screen time and smoking were not. However, as the study relied on self-reported symptoms without objective clinical tests, the findings may not fully reflect disease prevalence. These results highlight the need for targeted screening and public health efforts in high-risk groups.
Keywords: dry eye, Prevalence, Saudi Arabia, Ocular surface disease index, Risk factors
Received: 12 Apr 2025; Accepted: 13 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Najmi, BAKRI, Alsharif and Tubayqi. 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: SULTAN Mousa BAKRI, soltan.bakri@hotmail.com
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