title: Dry eye disease and work productivity loss in visual display users: the Osaka study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the impact of dry eye disease (DED) on work performance and productivity in office workers using visual display terminals (VDTs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six hundred seventy-two Japanese young and middle-aged office workers using VDTs completed a questionnaire that was designed to measured at-work performance deficits and productivity losses using the Japanese version of the Work Limitations Questionnaire, completed by e-mail. Using the Japanese dry eye diagnostic criteria, respondents were classified into 3 groups: definite DED, probable DED, and non DED.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 672 office workers, 553 subjects (82.3%), including 366 men and 187 women, completed the questionnaire and underwent clinical evaluation. As for the total workplace productivity loss, the non DED group demonstrated a loss of 3.56%, those with probable DED demonstrated a loss of 4.06%, and those with definite DED demonstrated a loss of 4.82%, indicating significantly worse performance and productivity (P = .014, trend test). For the 4 subscales, DED was associated with significantly lower on-the-job time management (P = .009, trend test) and combined mental performance and interpersonal functioning (P = .011, trend test). After controlling for age, sex, VDT working hours, and diagnosis of DED, time management, physical demands, and mental and interpersonal functioning showed a significant relationship to DED (each P > .05). Annual DED productivity losses were estimated to be $6160 per employee when measured by total production and $1178 per employee calculated by wage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicated that there is a significant impact of DED on the total productivity of Japanese VDT users.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan; Ryogoku Eye Clinic, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: uchinomiki@yahoo.co.jp.
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uchino
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uchino
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dogru
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Motoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Norihiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yokoi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Aoi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Komuro
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sonomura
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.affiliation: Moran Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Debra A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Schaumberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsubota
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016288:Computer Terminals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics*; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics*; D009816:Office Automation / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D017132:Workplace / Q000191:economics; D055815:Young Adult