Eye symptoms and signs in buildings with indoor climate problems (‘office eye syndrome’)

Abstract Break‐up time measurements and Lissa‐mine green staining were performed on 169 office workers in 4 town halls in Copenhagen where the occupants complained about the indoor air quality. In a questionnaire investigation one year before the study it was found that 25% of all the employees had eye irritation several times a week. A statistically significant association (P < 0.025) was found between eye irritation and unstable precorneal film (reduced break‐up time) and/or lissamine green stained epithelial damage. There was a significant rank correlation between eye irritation and different degrees of dry eyes (P < 0.00006). The investigation proved that eye irritation associated with indoor climate problems can be related to objective pathological changes in the eyes as found in the dry eyes. The findings constitute a new syndrome which I propose to name the ‘office eye syndrome’.