Abstract :
Objectives: To assess the prevalence and severity of dry eye in post menopausal women presenting to our hospital. And to assess the prevalence of various types of dry eye in post-menopausal women.
Materials and Methods: 100 post-menopausal women were subjected to various tests for dry eye from June 2020 to June 2021.
Results: Out of 100 participants in our study, 33 (33%) fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of dry eye. The prevalence of dry eye showed an upward trend with increasing age, from only 2 (10.5%) in 46-50 years of age group to 13 (61.9%) in 66-70 years. The most common presenting symptoms were redness, urning and grittiness. It was found that 4 (12.1%) patients had evaporative type of dry eye,13 (39.3%) had tear deficient type and the most common variety was mixed type which was present in 16 (48.4%). 21% had mild dry eye, 9% had moderate and 3% had severe type of dry eye disease.
Conclusions: Milder forms of dry eye are more common and hence easily missed than severe forms. Every woman should have a regular eye check-up after menopause so that dry eye as a cause of visual impairment could be excluded and treated in time to prevent further ocular morbidity.
Keyword :
Dry eye, Postmenopausal women, Schirmer's test