AIM: To investigate the impact of meteorological factors in different environments in the eastern and western regions of China on the incidence of lipid-abnormal dry eye.

METHODS: This is a multicenter retrospective study. From March 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022, all patients with dry eye were selected from the ophthalmology clinic of Nanjing Hospital of Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine and Friendship Hospital of Xinjiang Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. General data(gender, age, employment and education)and climate data for outdoor environments(temperature, humidity, air quality index and wind)on the day of the visit were collected. Patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected. Single factor, multiple factors and nonlinear model analysis were applied to identify environmental factors of lipid-abnormal dry eye in both regions.

RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the incidence of lipid-abnormal dry eye between Nanjing and Yili in different seasons. The incidence of lipid-abnormal dry eye in Yili was significantly higher in all seasons than in Nanjing(P<0.001). The results of univariate research showed that the factors affecting the incidence of lipid-abnormal dry eye were gender, employment, humidity, air quality, and wind. The results of multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that humidity, temperature and air quality were statistically significant, and remained significant after adjusting for the three confounding factors of age, gender and employment situation. Nonlinear analysis showed that the probability of lipid-abnormal dry eye increased with the decrease of temperature when the temperature was below 10℃; within the range of 10℃～15℃, the probability of lipid-abnormal dry eye tended to stabilize. When the temperature exceeded 15℃, the probability of lipid-abnormal dry eye increased with the increase of temperature. Humidity was negatively correlated with the onset of lipid-abnormal dry eye. As humidity increased, the probability of lipid-abnormal dry eye decreased.

CONCLUSIONS: The risk of lipid-abnormal dry eye in Yili is higher than that in Nanjing throughout the four seasons. Humidity, temperature, air quality and other environmental and meteorological factors can all affect the incidence of lipid-abnormal dry eye.