Survey Examines Eyewash Use in Hay Fever

TOPLINE:

About 40% of individuals with hay fever use eyewash, a survey found. Severe ocular symptoms and younger age are associated with higher rates of eyewash use.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers analyzed data from 11,284 people in Japan who downloaded the AllerSearch smartphone application and completed a survey about hay fever between February 2018 and May 2020.
• In all, 9041 had hay fever, 1523 had an unknown diagnosis, and 720 did not have hay fever.
• Among participants with hay fever, the median age was 34 years, and 56.2% were women.

TAKEAWAY:

• Overall, 40.7% of participants with hay fever used eyewash. Usage was more likely in those aged < 20 years (47.6%).
• Participants used eyewash when symptoms flared (43.9%) or in the morning or nightly.
• Symptoms of dry eye disease were significantly higher among participants who used eyewash than among those who did not use it (P < .001).
• Higher body mass index, contact lens use, shorter daily sleep duration, and smoking were among the factors significantly associated with eyewash use in participants with hay fever, the researchers reported (all P < .05).

IN PRACTICE:

“Our results highlight the possibility that the older population and patients with more severe [dry eye] may not be utilizing eyewash for ocular symptoms of hay fever, which may have implications for guiding future targets for public initiatives on the efficacy, side effects, and safety profiles of commercial eyewash products for hay fever prevention and management,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

Takenori Inomata, MD, PhD, with Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan, was the corresponding author of the study, which was published online on March 10 in Scientific Reports.

LIMITATIONS:

Selection and recall bias may have influenced the results of the study, the researchers noted. The cross-sectional design limited the ability to infer temporal relationships between eyewash use and covariates.

DISCLOSURES:

The research was supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Institute for Environmental and Gender-Specific Medicine, and the OTC Self-Medication Promotion Foundation. Inomata owns the company that developed AllerSearch. Some coauthors disclosed grants and personal fees from pharmaceutical and healthcare companies outside the submitted work.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.