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Systemic Conditions Associated With Blepharitis: A Case-Control Study
Noa Kapelushnik1,2, Lital Smadar1,2, Inbal Goldshtein3
1Goldschleger Eye Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
Purpose:
Blepharitis is a prevalent ocular condition, associated with significant discomfort and linked to other ocular and systemic pathologies such as dermatological conditions. The pathophysiology of blepharitis is multifactorial, and the potential correlation with systemic conditions including blood test abnormalities is still not fully known. We aimed to identify systemic conditions and routine laboratory abnormalities independently associated with blepharitis in a large screening-clinic cohort.
Methods:
This case-control study analyzed electronic medical records from adults who underwent routine ophthalmic and systemic evaluations at a single Medical Screening Institute between 2001 and 2020. Patients with blepharitis were compared with controls after accounting for age and sex differences via inverse probability weighting. The outcome measures were systemic conditions and blood tests results. P values were adjusted for multiple testing using the false discovery rate (q-values).
Results:
Overall, 35,678 individuals were included in the study. Among them, 4797 (13.4%) were diagnosed with blepharitis. Blepharitis cases were characterized by a higher rate of dermatological conditions (15.7% vs. 12.2%, q < 0.001), and neurological disorders (7.2% vs. 5.7%, q = 0.013) compared with controls. No significant correlations were observed between blepharitis blood test abnormalities, including complete blood count and chemistry.
Conclusions:
This study supports the association between blepharitis and dermatological conditions and highlights a possible link with neurological disorders.
