Investigating the frequency of underlying causes in patients with dry eye referred to ophthalmology clinic of Farshchian hospital in Hamadan
Fateme Eslami1 *
- Hamadan University of Medical Sciences
Abstract: Dry eye is a common and chronic disease of the ocular surface with several etiology. The aim of this study was investigating the frequency of underlying causes in patients with dry eye referred to ophthalmology clinic of Farshchian hospital in Hamadan.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 136 patients with dry eye were enroled. The severity of dry eye was assessed based on a questionnaire that includes the common symptoms of dry eye and was divided into mild (score 0 to 6), moderate (score 6.1 to 12) and severe (score 12.1to 18). Demographic characteristics, smoking, ocular and systemic disease, eye surgery and drug history of each patient were also collected.
Results: Out of 136 patients, 95 (69.8%) were female and 41 (30.2%) were male. Mean age of patients, was 52.9 ±18.6 years ranging from 4 to 84 year. Mean of Shirmer test was 6.93 ± 0.96 with a range of 6 to 10.finding showed that 73 patients (53.7%) had mild, 51 patients (37.5%) had moderate and 12 patients (8.8%) had severe dry eye. 85 patients (62.5%) had a history of systemic drug consomption. Smoking was seen in 12.5%, diabetes in 22.1%, computer use in 22.1% and rheumatologic disorder in 14% of patients. Blepharitis was seen in 59.6% and history of eye surgery in 32.3% of patients. Moderate and severe form of dry eye showed a significant relationship with systemic disease and drug consomption (P = 0.019 ).
Conclusion: Result of present study show that the epidemiology of dry eye disease is consistent with the studies in terms of demographic variables. History of systemic disease and drug consomption and blepharitis are possible risk factors for dry eye in our population.
