Abstract
Purpose :
To characterize visual symptoms, presbyopia, dry eye and retinal thickness in middle-aged population in relation to menopause as previous studies have reported their association with eye strain.
Methods :
This cohort study enrolled 2743 consecutive patients aged 36-45 (n=1000, pre group), 46-55 (n=1000, meno group), and 56-65 (n=743, post group) who underwent ocular surface tests and measurement of near add power and retinal ganglion cell complex thickness (GCC). Common ocular symptoms were assessed.
Results :
In the female group, the prevalence of visual symptoms (eye strain and photophobia) was highest in the meno group, whereas ocular surface symptoms (dryness, irritation, and pain) were not. The prevalence of symptomatic presbyopia (near add power ≥ 1.5D), mean values of tear break-up time (s), positive corneal staining (%), and mean GCC (μm) in the pre/meno/post groups were 14.4/73.8/97.8, 3.3/3.5/3.3, 29.1/23.8/23.9, and 98.2/105.3/89.6, respectively, indicating a large progression of presbyopia (p<0.01) from pre-menopausal period and significantly greatest GCC (p<0.01) in the meno group. No notable tendency was observed in symptoms and GCC for the male groups.
Conclusions :
Visual symptoms in menopausal women were worse than in pre- and post-menopausal periods. The increase of symptomatic presbyopia and GCC may be contributing factors in addition to menopausal symptoms.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.