Blepharitis is one of the most common ocular conditions characterized by redness, scaling inflammation and crusting of the eyelid margin and it is a common cause of discomfort and irritation among people of all ages, ethnicity and sex. The term blepharitis:-blepharon means the eyelids &-itis refers to inflammation. This is a sub-acute or chronic inflammation of the eye-lid margins, appearing as a simple hyperaemia or as a true inflammation [19, 20], which may occur in two forms: anterior & posterior. The anterior may be (i) seborrhoeic (or) squamous& (ii) ulcerative and sometimes occasionally, parasite causes blepharitis - blepharitisacarica due to demodexfolliculorum and phthiriasispalpebrarum due to the crab louse , very rarely to the head louse & other diseases or condition that lead to blepharitis are : rosacea, herpes simplex dermatitis, varicella-zoster dermatitis, molluscumcontagiosum, allergic dermatitis, contact dermatitis. It can also be divided into the following clinical types: (i) bacterial blepharitis, (ii) seborrhoeic or squamous blepharitis, (iii) mixed staphylococcal with seborrhoeicblepharitis, (iv) posteriorblepharitis or meibomitis and (v) parasitic blepharitis. Almost any inflammatory condition which affects the skin in general may attack the eyelids and oedema of the lids are common due to the looseness of the subcutaneous tissue. In general, blepharitis is not a sight-threatening condition, but if left untreated it has the potential to cause keratopathy, ulceration, chronic conjuctivitis and permanent alteration in eyelid anatomy [16-18].

Seborrheic Dermatitis (SD) and dandruff are common dermatological problems that affect the seborrheic areas of the body. They are considered the same basic condition sharing many features and responding to similar treatment, differing only in locality and severity. Dandruff is restricted to the scalp, and involves itchy, flaking skin without visible inflammation. Seborrheic Dermatitis affects the scalp as well as face, retro-auricular area & the upper chest, causing flaking, scaling, inflammation and pruritus, and can have marked erythema. Flaking in Seborrheic Dermatitis and dandruff is usually white-to-yellowish, and may be oily or dry. It is estimated that Seborrheic Dermatitis and dandruff combined affect half of the adult population. Despite such high prevalence, their etiology is not well understood. Various intrinsic and environmental factors, such as sebaceous secretions, skin surface fungal colonization, individual susceptibility, and interactions between these factors, all contribute to the pathogenesis and it is considered as one of the eiology for seborrheicblepharitis [1]. Although there are many studies available on blepharitis, a very few hospital-based studies are available on squamous blepharitis. With this background, the present study was designed to estimate the correlation between squamous blepharitis and scalp dandruff in The Out-Patient Department of Ophthalmology at Saveetha Medical College & Hospital, Chennai [2-5].

A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Outpatient Department (OPD) of Ophthalmology Dept, Saveetha Medical College & Hospital, Chennai from January 2019 to March 2019. All the patients attending Ophthalmology OPD on working days during the study period were included in the study by convenient sampling method. The uncooperative and those who were not interested were excluded from the study. A total of 188 patients with squamous blepharitis formed the study population [10-15].

Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee of the college before conducting the study. Informed verbal consent was taken from the participants or guardian of the study participants. Data like name, age, sex, socio-demographic profile was collected from the study participants or from their guardians. All the patients were examined by ophthalmologists and wherever necessary, dandruff of scalp was confirmed by the dermatologist. The information and presenting features like scales at the lid margin, irritation, discomfort and falling of eyelashes, etc was recored by examination of the study subject. The collected data was entered onto the excel sheet and it was analysed by appropriate statistical methods by using spss software and the p value was identified [6-9].