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© 2025 by the authors. Published by MDPI on behalf of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Dry eye disease (DED), also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is a multifactorial ocular disease characterized by tear film insufficiency due to diverse etiologies including aging, incomplete and infrequent blinking, hormonal changes, medications, and systemic diseases. Classified into aqueous-deficient dry eye (ADDE), evaporative dry eye (EDE), and mixed subtypes, DED presents with symptoms such as irritation, stinging, redness, foreign body sensation, sensitivity to light, and blurred or fluctuating vision. While rare, severe cases may lead to vision loss. With its rising global prevalence across age groups, DED poses a significant public health challenge. Primary care physicians (PCPs), often the first point of contact for DED patients, require timely screening and management strategies. This review explores the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and management of DED, emphasizing practical approaches for PCPs. This narrative review was conducted by searching MEDLINE, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases for relevant articles. Diagnostic approaches, including detailed history taking, patient-reported questionnaires, differential diagnosis, and assessments are discussed alongside management strategies, including symptomatic ophthalmic treatment, risk factor mitigation (e.g., reduced digital device screen time), prevention, and nutrition. By providing a synopsis of early symptoms that PCPs are often the first to encounter, practical approaches to screening and managing DED in the primary care setting, and guidelines on when to refer to specialty care, this comprehensive review aims to equip PCPs with the knowledge to improve DED screening and optimize patient outcomes.

Details

Title
Overview of Dry Eye Disease for Primary Care Physicians
Author
Kwon, Jeonghyun 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Moghtader, Amirhossein 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Kang, Christie 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zahra Bibak Bejandi 1 ; Shahjahan, Sumaiya 1 ; Alzein, Ahmad 1 ; Djalilian, Ali R 1 

 Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA; [email protected] (J.K.); [email protected] (A.M.); [email protected] (Z.B.B.); [email protected] (S.S.); [email protected] (A.A.) 
 Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA; [email protected] 
First page
460
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
1010660X
e-ISSN
16489144
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3181607059
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Published by MDPI on behalf of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.