PriMera Scientific Medicine and Public Health (ISSN: 2833-5627)

Research Article

Volume 6 Issue 2

Drug-Induced Conjunctivitis: Analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System Database

Abdulah Virk, Eugene Max Wang, Deepkumar Patel and Karen Allison*

January 24, 2025

DOI : 10.56831/PSMPH-06-192

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Abstract

Conjunctivitis is a highly prevalent condition of diverse etiology affecting around 2 percent of the world’s population, with cases ranging from mild to severe. Previous studies have focused on the pathogenic, environmental, and preservative-induced causes of conjunctivitis. However, little research has examined drug-associated risk factors for conjunctivitis, especially outside of eye drops. The goal of this study is to identify and elicit trends among the top 50 medications associated with conjunctivitis in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and their respective drug categories.

Investigating the FAERS database, we uncovered several drug categories associated with high incidence of conjunctivitis, such as Monoclonal Antibodies and Disease-modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (DMARDs). Among the top 50 drugs associated with conjunctivitis, 55.34% of reports were from females with 62.41% of reports originating in the US. The median age of individuals reporting was 52. Monoclonal Antibodies were significantly more widely reported compared to other identified drug categories, comprising 39.41% of total reports. The findings from this study have the potential to educate clinicians about emerging drug-related causes of conjunctivitis.

Keywords: conjunctivitis; drug reaction; adverse event; ocular surface disease

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