Subjective symptom of eye dryness and lifestyle factors with corneal neovascularization in contact lens wearers.

PURPOSE: To investigate effects of subjective symptom of eye dryness and lifestyle factors on corneal neovascularization (CNV).

METHODS: Subjects were 181 Japanese adults visiting an eye clinic for contact lens (CL) fitting. All completed a self-administered questionnaire related to sex, age, lens material (rigid gas-permeable or hydrogel lens), and subjective eye dryness. Hydrogel lens wearers were restricted to users of either Etafilcon A or Nelfilcon A. The lifestyle factors included weekly working hours on visual display terminal, smoking history, and duration of CL wear. CNV was graded on a 3-point ordinal scale using a slit-lamp and analyzed in logistic regression model: normal appearance (CNV 0), congestion and dilatation or vessel penetration < 1.0 mm (CNV 1), and vessel penetration > or = 1.0 mm (CNV 2).

RESULTS: The prevalence of CNV 2 was 26% (n = 47). Multivariate analysis showed that the following three factors were significantly associated with CNV through the stepwise regression model: a use of a hydrogel lens (odds ratio [OR], 2.55; confidence interval [CI], 1.04-6.25), subjective eye dryness (OR, 2.07; CI, 1.01-4.23), and weekly CL use (OR, 3.08; CI, 1.14-8.00). Additionally, a positive trend was found between the degree of weekly CL use and the severity of CNV (P for trend test = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of CNV in the setting of this study seemed to be higher than that in previous studies, indicating that a regular eye checkup is of paramount importance for eye care. Specifically, ocular symptomology of eye dryness with the information of CL use may be carefully explored in future research.