Key Takeaways
- Stress and dry eye symptoms both increased significantly over approximately 7.5 months.
- Higher earlier stress was linked to later dry eye symptoms, but the finding was not significant with a conventional two-tailed test.
Higher perceived stress was associated with a small prospective increase in dry eye symptom burden among young adults, according to a study.
The study included 71 young adults with a mean age of 22 years. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale-14 and Ocular Surface Disease Index at 2 time points approximately 7.5 months apart, with the second assessment conducted during a period of heightened regional threat.
Both perceived stress and dry eye symptoms increased significantly over the follow-up period. Perceived stress increased by 4.2 points, while dry eye symptom scores increased by 7.5 points. The measures were positively associated at both time points.
There was a small positive association between perceived stress at the first assessment and dry eye symptoms at the second. This association did not reach significance using a two-tailed test (P = 0.084) but was significant under the prespecified one-tailed test (P = 0.042). The reverse association between earlier dry eye symptoms and later perceived stress was not significant.
The authors noted the findings were suggestive rather than confirmatory.
Reference
Ifrah R, Gantz L, Besser A. The longitudinal association between perceived stress and dry eye symptoms: A cross-lagged panel study. Optom Vis Sci. 2026;103(8):e70091. doi: 10.1002/ovs2.70091. PMID: 42563229.
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