Factors affecting meibomian gland area loss in symptomatic adults.

Aim: To characterize the distribution of meibomian gland (MG) area loss (MGL) and its relationship with demographic characteristics, mites, and symptoms.

Methods: This retrospective observational study included patients who visited the Dry Eye Clinic of Shenzhen Eye Hospital between June 2020 and August 2021. General patient characteristics, ocular symptoms, test results of the eyelid edges, and the results of a comprehensive ocular surface analysis were collected. MGL was analyzed using Image J software.

Results: This study enrolled 1204 outpatients aged 20-80 (40.70±13.44)y, including 357 males (29.65%) and 847 females (70.35%). The patients were classified into mild (=155; 12.87%), moderate (=795; 66.03%), severe (=206; 17.11%), and extremely severe (=48; 3.99%) MGL groups. MGL was significantly larger in female than in male (=0.006). The degree of MGL also significantly differed in age (<0.001) and the more numbers of mites with severity (<0.001). Multivariate disordered multinomial logistic regression analysis identified that female sex, older age, secretory symptoms, and a large number of mites were risk factors for MGL (<0.05).

Conclusion: Patients with MGL are more likely to be older, female, more numbers of mites, and increased secretion.