Table 3.
Change in reading efficiency and overall assessment of eyes among all survey participants and association with dry eye disease severity.
| Aspect of reading | MILD dry eye (N = 97) n.(%) | MODERATE dry eye (N = 80) n.(%) |
SEVERE dry eye (N = 211) n (%) |
ALL Respondents (N = 388) n.(%) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time it takes to read a document from beginning to end | ||||||||
| Much shorter during pandemic | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 1 | (1) | 1 | (0) |
| Somewhat shorter during pandemic | 4 | (4) | 2 | (3) | 13 | (6) | 19 | (5) |
| No change |
52 |
(54) |
29 |
(36) |
111 |
(53) |
192 |
(50) |
| Somewhat longer during pandemic | 33 | (34) | 40 | (50) | 64 | (30) | 137 | (35) |
| Much longer during pandemic | 8 | (8) | 9 | (11) | 22 | (10) | 39 | (10) |
| Adjusted OR (95% CI) | Ref | 2.35 (1.25, 4.44) | 0.87 (0.52, 1.44) | N/A | ||||
| Amount of time during which you can read (anything) without taking a break | ||||||||
| Much longer during pandemic | 2 | (2) | 2 | (3) | 4 | (2) | 8 | (2) |
| Somewhat longer during pandemic | 13 | (13) | 10 | (13) | 29 | (14) | 52 | (13) |
| No change |
48 |
(50) |
36 |
(45) |
101 |
(48) |
185 |
(48) |
| Somewhat shorter during pandemic | 23 | (24) | 24 | (30) | 53 | (25) | 100 | (26) |
| Much shorter during pandemic | 11 | (11) | 8 | (10) | 24 | (11) | 43 | (11) |
| Adjusted OR (95% CI) | Ref | 1.34 (0.71, 2.52) | 0.99 (0.59, 1.68) | N/A | ||||
| Screen use-related work efficiency during the pandemic (versus before) | ||||||||
| Not applicable | 37 | (38) | 28 | (35) | 59 | (28) | 124 | (32) |
| Much better | 3 | (3) | 2 | (3) | 8 | (4) | 13 | (3) |
| Somewhat better | 12 | (12) | 10 | (13) | 24 | (11) | 46 | (12) |
| No change |
18 |
(19) |
11 |
(14) |
53 |
(25) |
82 |
(21) |
| Somewhat worse | 17 | (18) | 23 | (29) | 46 | (22) | 86 | (22) |
| Much worse | 10 | (10) | 6 | (8) | 21 | (10) | 37 | (10) |
| Adjusted OR (95% CI) | Ref | 1.44 (0.65, 3.16) | 0.90 (0.48, 1.68) | N/A | ||||
| Comparison of eyes overall during the pandemic | ||||||||
| Better | 10 | (10) | 7 | (9) | 32 | (15) | 49 | (13) |
| No change |
25 |
(26) |
11 |
(14) |
52 |
(25) |
88 |
(23) |
| Worse | 62 | (64) | 62 | (78) | 127 | (60) | 251 | (65) |
| Adjusted OR (95% CI) | Ref | 1.97 (0.96, 4.04) | 0.80 (0.47, 1.36)* | N/A | ||||
• Odds ratio for each comparison calculated as likelihood of below dotted line versus above dotted line comparing respondents with moderate dry eye versus respondents with mild dry eye (3rd column) and comparing respondents with severe dry eye versus respondents with mild dry eye (4th column).
• All estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) that are in bold font are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.
• * = P < 0.05.
• ** = P < 0.001.
• Multivariable analysis that adjusts for age, sex, race, and employment status.