Meta analysis of the prevalence of DED in different latitude intervals

The cause of DED is unclear, and there is a high degree of variability in global prevalence. To date, a latitudinal gradient effect has been identified for several ocular diseases, but the relationship between latitude and DED prevalence is unclear. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive understanding of the differences in the prevalence of DED among populations at different latitudes and regions of the world through meta-analysis. According to the preferred reporting items of the PRISMA2020 guidelines, we searched the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases for prevalence reports on DED, and finally screened 34 articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and extracted data from the articles as follows: the name of the researcher, date of publication of the literature, period of the study (specific years and months), region of the study, type of study (population- and healthcare system-based epidemiological study, or a single-institution clinic-based or hospital-based study), specific information about the study population (mean age, gender, ethnicity), prevalence rate, and total number of people with the disease.后。All statistical data analyses were performed in the STATA software (version 12.0) using the metan, metarag, and metafor packages.