Background: Most Indians today own one or more mobile phones. The average time of phone usage per person per day is 4.8 h and the excess usage of mobile phone is an emerging cause of dry eye. Although some studies have established this relation, not many studies focus on South India. Our study aims to highlight the South Indian population.
Aim and Objective: To study the prevalence of dry eye among medical students of 18–25 years.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, whose participants are undergraduate medical students, both males and females, between 18 and 25 years. Schirmer’s test was done for each candidate after answering an Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire.
Results: The most frequent symptom reported by the participants at the time of answering the questionnaire was soreness and irritation of the eye (8%). The most common long-term symptom reported was burning and watering of eyes of tolerable severity (27%). Some participants experienced uncomfortable and bothersome eye fatigue.
Conclusion: Dry eye in the form of symptoms of both dryness of eye and reflex epiphora is present in the population under study. About 76% of the study population use their phones for over 3 hours a day. The soreness and irritation of eyes, watering and burning of eyes are attributed to the mobile phone usage for more than 6 hours per day.
Key words: Dry Eye; Mobile Phone; Schirmer’s Test; Tear Film; Eye Fatigue
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