Psychological contribution to understanding the nature of dry eye disease: a cross-sectional study of anxiety sensitivity and dry eyes

Dry eye disease (DED) represents a common health problem in the general population. Previous studies have demonstrated that the subjective symptoms of dry eye are associated with several psychological factors, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, there is a lack of empirical information about the mechanisms underlying the relationships between DED and various psychological symptoms. In light of emerging evidence of its trans-diagnostic nature, anxiety sensitivity (i.e. AS) represents one promising factor for further understanding DED. The present study aimed to explore whether anxiety sensitivity plays a role in the perception of DED symptoms in a community-based sample of adults aged 20-89 years (N = 381; M = 39.72, SD = 12.6). A dry ocular surface was reported by 22.8% of the participants. As expected, women more often reported symptoms of dry eye that could be categorized as moderate to severe. The findings demonstrated that AS, and the AS-psychological concerns dimension in particular, predict the intensity of dry eye symptoms above and beyond depressive and anxiety symptoms. These findings add to a growing body of work underscoring the relevance of AS in increasing the risk of chronic medical conditions.