Abstract
Purpose :
To assess the incidence and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with dry eye during evaluation for cataract surgery.
Methods :
Dry eye patients evaluated by an ophthalmologist between 3/2015 and 7/2021 were identified using international classification of disease codes. A total of 600 of the 1630 identified dry eye patients, randomly selected by a computer software (Microsoft Excel), had their medical records reviewed. Patients diagnosed with dry eye during cataract surgery evaluation were identified, and an equal number of primary dry eye patients were selected as controls. Electronic medical records were reviewed to obtain information regarding demographics, objective dry eye parameters at baseline, dry eye treatments, and dry eye symptoms.
Results :
Twenty-six patients (4.3% of total reviewed) received a dry eye diagnosis during cataract surgery evaluation, and an additional 26 patients were selected as controls. More patients from the cataract evaluation group were men (42.3% vs 23.1%, P=.139) and self-identified as racial/ethnic minorities (34.6% vs 19.2%; P=.184), however these differences were not statistically significant (both P>.05). Objective dry eye parameters demonstrated no statistically significant difference (all P>.05) between groups for mean conjunctival lissamine green staining (cataract 2.4 vs control 2.8) and corneal fluorescein staining (cataract 2.1 vs. control 2.2). Fifteen (57.7%) cataract patients and 25 (96.2%) of controls had symptoms of dry eye at presentation (P<.001). Prior to presentation, fewer cataract evaluation patients had used any over-the-counter treatments (53.8% vs 84.6%; P=.016) or prescription treatment (15.4% vs 50.0%; P=.008)
Conclusions :
The prevalence of dry eye diagnosed during cataract surgery evaluation is rare, however these represent a greater proportion of asymptomatic patients with no prior dry eye treatment. Objective dry eye parameters and demographic between groups are not statistically significant, however larger studies are warranted to evaluate for clinically and statistically significant differences.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.