Abstract
Purpose: :
To compare and correlate the symptoms reported using dry eye questionnaires (DEQ) in a group of postmenopausal (PM) females with and without symptoms of dry eye (DE).
Methods: :
82 healthy PM females (>50 years), who were non-contact lens wearers and not on Hormone Replacement Therapy, were categorized as being symptomatic or asymptomatic of DE based on their response to a single-item score dry eye questionnaire (SIDEQ). The participants also completed the Indiana DEQ and the Allergan Ocular Surface Disease Index© (OSDI).
Results: :
SIDEQ responses revealed 43 symptomatic DE (16 were classified as "mild" and 27 "moderate") and 39 asymptomatic non dry eyed (NDE) participants. The DEQ scores showed that the DE group exhibited a higher frequency and intensity of symptoms than the NDE group (p<0.001), which worsened as the day progressed (p<0.001). Mann Whitney U test showed that the "frequently" reported symptoms were discomfort and dryness ("mild" = 35.2% and 17.6% and "moderate" = 69.2% and 65.4%), and these scores in the DE group were significantly different from the NDE group (p<0.001). The OSDI total score for the NDE and DE groups were significantly different (NDE = 7.43 ± 7.71; mild= 18.37 ± 9.29; moderate = 28.31 ± 13.02; p<0.001). The sub scores for the DE group were also significantly greater than the NDE group (p<0.001). Correlation analysis between OSDI and DEQ for symptom comparison showed weak but significant associations between 5 out of the 9 symptoms (r = 0.4 to 0.7; p<0.05) in the moderate DE group and 2 out of the 9 symptoms (r =0.4 to 0.6; p<0.05) in the NDE group.
Conclusions: :
DEQ’s can be used as an effective tool in categorizing subjects based on their severity of symptoms and can be very useful in treatment trials for dry-eye. PM females who are categorized as being symptomatic of dry eye show variable symptoms of ocular irritation, which increase over the course of the day, compared with an age-matched group of asymptomatic subjects.
Keywords: cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye