Abstract
Purpose :
Ocular surface diseases (OSD) involve ocular surface barrier dysfunctions impacting vision & cornea. A major factor of dysfunction is inflammation, causing neurosensory abnormalities resulting in peripheral sensitization, irritating symptoms, and reduced quality of life. Previous studies suggest anti-inflammatory diets can reduce inflammation & corticosteroid therapy effects. However, the effect of anti-inflammatory diets on OSD has not been investigated to date. This study aims to determine if an anti-inflammatory diet can aid in improving OSD patient outcomes.
Methods :
A retrospective study was conducted on OSD patients at the New England Eye Center, with keywords “diet”, “gluten, “sugar”, and “dairy” from January 2019 to March 2023 in their chart. Pre- and post-treatment dates were based on anti-inflammatory diet recommendations. Patients were included if Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and Ocular Pain Assessment Survey (OPAS) surveys were completed & excluded if an anti-inflammatory medication was concurrently started, or if the diet was discontinued. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Analysis were used to compare overall pre- and post-scores. Change scores were used to evaluate differences pre- & post- treatment when comparing groups. T-tests & Wilcoxon Sum Rank Tests were used to determine changes in questionnaire scores. ANCOVA & mixed effects models were used to assess if sex influenced significant dependent variables.
Results :
This study evaluated 25 patients (age:52.36±11.56 yrs;19 F, 6 M). An overall decrease was seen in quality of life changes (p=0.0206), with a decrease in pain & sore eyes (p=0.0028). Increase in eye pain symptom relief since previous visit (p=0.0013) was observed. When comparing patients with (n=9) & without (n=16) ocular pain, sex was initially significant (p=0.0119), but further analysis showed sex was not a significant predictor for any significant values. A significant change (p=0.044) in eye pain symptom relief since previous visit was seen between those with ocular pain (1.944±2.899) and without (1.875±4.215). Those with pain reported a decrease in vision quality, compared to those without (p=0.0304). Patients with pain showed a 16.3% improvement in mood compared to those without pain (p=0.0331).
Conclusions :
Our findings indicate anti-inflammatory diets could play a role in improving patient outcomes on OSD patients in conjunction with anti-inflammatory medications.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.