Association between ophthalmology clinic visit for dry eye disease and environmental nitrogen dioxide exposure: a...

This study aimed to investigate the association between atmospheric pollution and daily outpatient visits for dry eye disease (DED) in Wuhan, China. We identified 14,891 outpatient visits for DED at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from November 1, 2017, to October 31, 2019. Data on patient gender, age, and visit dates were collected. The daily average concentrations of air pollutants were collected, with the noncompliant NO₂ levels used as a representative of exposure. We conducted a time-series study using a generalized additive model (GAM) to assess the acute effects of air pollution exposure on outpatient visits for DED. The results showed that a 10 µg/m³ increase in atmospheric NO₂ concentration was associated with a 3.06% increase in the number of DED outpatient visits (95% Confidence interval (CI) 1.43-4.69%). A more pronounced association between NO₂ and outpatient visits for DED was observed during cold seasons and in both elderly (≥ 65 years old) and younger people (≤ 45 years old). Our study revealed that NO_2, was positively correlated with daily outpatient visits for DED in Wuhan, China. Reducing the sources of NO₂ may help relieve the outpatient burden of DED.