Prevalence of vernal keratoconjunctivitis in Canada: a cross-sectional survey study

To estimate the prevalence of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) in Canada in January 2023.

A total of 1 061 ophthalmologists registered with the Canadian Ophthalmological Society were contacted in January 2023 and offered an online survey on VKC. Eighty (7.5%) responded. The prevalence of VKC in Canada was estimated using 6 distinct hypotheses, each based on different assumptions regarding disease duration and the potential experiences of nonresponding ophthalmologists.

On the basis of the 6 different hypotheses, the estimated prevalence (per 10,000) of active VKC in January 2023 ranged between 0.13 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.12-0.14) to 3.34 (95% CI 3.29-3.40) for the total population of Canada, and 0.61 (95% CI 0.56-0.66) to 16.11 (95% CI 15.84-16.39) for Canadians aged 0-19 years. Building on the most likely hypothesis that the disease duration was 4 years, and assuming on-responding ophthalmologists had seen half of the VKC cases as survey responders, the best estimate of VKC prevalence in Canada was 0.90 (95% CI 0.84-0.96) per 10,000 population and 4.33 (95% CI 4.07-4.61) per 10,000 children and teens. The most common VKC-associated complications were reported to be shield ulcer and steroid-induced ocular hypertension ranging from 0.02 to 0.48 and 0.02 to 0.47 cases per 10,000 inhabitants, respectively, depending on the hypothesis assumed.

This national survey reported that the prevalence of VKC per 10,000 population in 2023 ranged from 0.13 to 3.34 for Canadians of all ages and from 0.61 to 16.11 for children and teens. The best estimate was 0.90 per 10,000 population of all ages and 4.33 per 10,000 children and teens.