Frequency of Dry Eye Disease in Elderly Population and their Associated Risk Factors

  • Munir Amjad Baig Assistant Professor Ophthalmology, AJK Medical College, Muzaffarabad
Keywords: Dry eye, Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, Schirmer test.

Abstract

Objective: To know the pattern of dry eye disease (DED) in a tertiary care hospital and its association with various clinicoepidemiological factors.
Patients and Methods: This one-year cross sectional study was conducted at Federal Government Services Hospital from 1st January 2012 to 31st Dec 2012. About 1600 patients above 40 years of age were screened randomly for DED and included in the study. A 5-item standardized questionnaire (DEQ 5), Schirmer's test (ST), Tear film breakup time (TBUT), corneal fluorescein staining (CFS) for the presence of conjunctival injection, punctate epithelial erosions (PEE), and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) were used. The diagnosis was made on the presence of three out of five parameters. SPSS 17 was used to analysed the data.
Results: About 1600 willing patients were screened for DED. Among them four hundred and eighty-six (486) (30.37%) patients were diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and signs as DED. Out of them, 261(53.7%) were males and 225(46.25%) were females, 288(59.2%) were urban and 198(40.7%] belong to rural areas.
Conclusion: DED constitutes a major proportion of patients attending the ophthalmology department in a tertiary care hospital. It is a multifactorial disease, is frequent in an elderly male who are using drugs like an antihistamine, anti-BPH, antidepressant, and in postmenopausal women. 

Published
2017-04-10
Section
Original Articles