Abstract
Purpose :
Adequate vitamin intake is essential for eye health and has been proposed to also play a role in dry eye disease (DED). This large population-based, cross-sectional study seeks to clarify the association between dietary vitamin intake and the risk of DED.
Methods :
This study included participants from the population-based Lifelines cohort (n=51,551, 60% female, mean age = 51.2 years). We assessed DED using the Women’s Health Study (WHS) dry eye questionnaire, which defines cases by either a previous diagnosis of DED by a clinician or the presence of highly symptomatic dry eye (“often” or “constant” symptoms of both dryness and irritation of the eyes). Total daily intakes of vitamins A, B2, B6, B12, C, and E from foods and drinks (excluding supplements) were assessed through Food Frequency Questionnaires. The relationship between DED and vitamin intake were analyzed with logistic regressions adjusted for demographics, BMI, smoking status, vitamin supplement use, and 48 comorbidities. We also investigated the association between DED and meeting recommended intakes of vitamins, based on recommendations from NIH. In addition, we repeated the analyses in non-supplement users separately to remove the possible impact tied to supplement use.
Results :
WHS-defined DED was present in 9.1% of the population. Higher intakes of vitamin C and vitamin E increased the odds for having DED (Table 1). Further, participants meeting recommended intakes of vitamin C or vitamin E had 14% or 10% increased odds, respectively, of having WHS-defined DED compared to those below recommended intakes. Intakes of vitamins A, B2, B6, and B12 were not significantly associated with DED. The associations when assessing non-supplement users only (n=30,547) were similar to those of the total population.
Conclusions :
This large population-based study found no evidence that dietary vitamin intakes attenuated the risk of DED. Instead, vitamin C and, to a lesser extent, vitamin E, may be associated with a slightly increased risk of DED. The causes for the direction of this association should be explored further as it went against our hypothesis and previous findings.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.