Evaluating awareness and symptomatic relief in dry eye disease: A cross-sectional study comparing homoeopathic and allopathic approaches

Abstract

Introduction: Dry eye disease is no longer limited to the elderly; it is slowly growing and affecting the young population. Many modes of treatment are available; however, a small cross-section of people know about the homoeopathic mode of treatment. Aim and Objective Aim To confirm the diagnosis of dry eye disease (DED) using the DEQ-5 questionnaire [21] To evaluate the awareness and comparison of relief between homoeopathic eye drops/drugs and allopathic medicines among participants. Objective To confirm the diagnosis of dry eye disease using DEQ-5 (used with permission from author, Dr. Chalmers) [21] To compare treatment benefits from allopathic eye drops/drugs and homoeopathic eye drops/drugs. Methodology: A survey was conducted on 162 participants to assess if participants have dry eye disease and what treatment they used. The diagnosis was confirmed using DEQ-5 (used with permission of Dr. Chalmers). Out of these, 87 participants had dry eye disease, and 77 took treatment, out of these 42 took allopathic mode of treatment (eye drops/drugs), out of these 42, 25 participants got relief, and 17 did not get relief. On the other hand, 35 participants took homoeopathic mode of treatment, and 29 got relief and 6 did not get relief. Results: Chi-square test was applied to see if there is any association between the mode of treatment and relief. The results were significant with a p-value = 0.026 (< 0.05). Conclusion: The test showed a positive correlation between homoeopathic mode of treatment and relief in dry eyes.