Impacts of air pollution and meteorological conditions on dry eye disease among residents in a northeastern Chinese metropolis: a six-year crossover study in a cold region

Cheng-Wei Lu; Jing Fu; Xiu-Fen Liu; Zhi-Hua Cui; Wei-Wei Chen; Li Guo; Xiao-Lan Li; Yu Ren; Fei Shao; Li-Na Chen; Ji-Long Hao

doi:10.1038/s41377-023-01207-1

Impacts of air pollution and meteorological conditions on dry eye disease among residents in a northeastern Chinese metropolis: a six-year crossover study in a cold region

Light Sci Appl. 2023 Jul 27;12(1):186. doi: 10.1038/s41377-023-01207-1.

Authors

Cheng-Wei Lu¹, Jing Fu², Xiu-Fen Liu³, Zhi-Hua Cui³, Wei-Wei Chen^{4

5}, Li Guo⁶, Xiao-Lan Li⁷, Yu Ren³, Fei Shao³, Li-Na Chen³, Ji-Long Hao³

Affiliations

¹ Opthalmology Department, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China. [email protected].
² Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China.
³ Opthalmology Department, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China. [email protected].
⁵ College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China. [email protected].
⁶ China College of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130022, China.
⁷ Shenyang Institute of Atmospheric Environment, China Meteorological Administration, Shenyang, 110166, China.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the associations among dry eye disease (DED), air pollution, and meteorological conditions in the cold region of a northeastern Chinese metropolis (i.e., Changchun). Data on ambient air pollutants and meteorological parameters as well as diagnosed DED outpatients during 2015-2021 were collected. The associations between DED and environmental factors were analysed at multiple time scales using various statistical methods (i.e., correlation, regression and machine learning). Among the 10,809 DED patients (21,617 eyes) studied, 64.60% were female and 35.40% were male. A higher frequency of DED was observed in March and April, followed by January, August and October. Individual and multiple factor models showed the positive importance of particles with aerodynamic diameters <10 μm (PM₁₀), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O₃) among normal air pollutants and air pressure (AP), air temperature (AT) and wind speed (WS) among normal meteorological parameters. Air pollutants (PM₁₀, nitrogen dioxide: NO₂) and meteorological parameters (AT, AP) have combined impacts on DED occurrence. For the first time, we further explored the associations of detailed components of atmospheric particles and DED, suggesting potential emission sources, including spring dust from bare soil and roads and precursor pollutants of summer O₃ formation from vehicles and industry in Northeast China. Our results revealed the quantitative associations among air pollutants, meteorological conditions and DED outpatients in cold regions, highlighting the importance of coordinated policies in air pollution control and climate change mitigation.