TFOS to release new global workshop report

The Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) has announced a new global report called A Lifestyle Epidemic: Ocular Surface Disease.

The report is set to be published in The Ocular Surface journal this quarter.

Amy Gallant Sullivan, executive director of TFOS, said: “This new TFOS Report focuses on the direct and indirect impacts that everyday lifestyle choices and challenges have on ocular surface health – from screen time, to our beauty routines, to our nutrition, to where we live.”

The society noted that the World Health Organization has indicated eye problems are increasingly linked to lifestyle choices.

Dr Monica Alves, Professor at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Campinas, Brazil, shared: “It is our mission as a world-renowned scientific society to advance our understanding and educate the public and professionals about how our choices impact our eyes, our vision, and our quality of life.”

The report involved 158 experts from 38 countries and took almost three years to complete.

TFOS founder, Dr David A Sullivan, explained that the TFOS Lifestyle Workshop report was committed to an “evidence-based approach and a process of open communication, dialogue and transparency, in order to achieve a consensus concerning lifestyle choices and ocular surface disease.”

Dr Jennifer Craig, Professor at the Department of Ophthalmology and Head of the Ocular Surface Laboratory at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, added: “The study of ocular surface disease has evolved dramatically in the last years and TFOS has played an instrumental role in this transformation.”

Craig described TFOS Reports as playing a “critical role” in consolidating and translating published science and literature, “while inspiring future research by identifying the gaps and unmet needs.”

TFOS will host presentations of the conclusions and recommendations of the report on 6 and 7 May. All are invited to register via the website.