English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with a number of ocular complications such as diabetic retinopathy, cataract, refractory deviations, oculomotor nerve palsy etc. Recently, problems involving the ocular surface, dryness in particular, have been reported with dry eye symptoms, indicating a clear role for tear film abnormalities. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of dry eye and dry eye related ocular surface changes in diabetic patients, and to study the association between diabetic dry eyes and its relation to age, sex, glycemic control, duration of disease and diabetic retinopathy METHODS A hospital based clinical study of 100 diabetic patients who presented to the Department of Ophthalmology, Al Ameen Medical College and Hospital, Vijayapur from November 2019 to November 2020 was conducted. Detailed history was recorded. Assessment of anterior segment via slit lamp biomicroscopy was done. The examinations for dry eyes included Schirmer's test, tear break-up time, fluorescein and rose bengal staining and a questionnaire. The retinopathy was examined by ophthalmoscopy and was recorded. RESULTS Of the 100 diabetic patients, 2 (2 %) were type I and 98 (98 %) were type II diabetes. The mean age of type I group was 30 ± 0 years and 57.55 ± 27.07 years in type II group. 50 % were males in type I group, and 51.47 % in type II. Fifty nine (59 %) patients had dry eye. The prevalence in type I was 100 % and in type II was 58.16 %. Dry eye prevalence was maximum in those between 51 to 60 years of age (55.77 %). A 2.65 fold increase was found in the odds for dry eye in those with > 5 years of diabetic duration. The association of dry eye among uncontrolled was statistically highly significant with P value less than 0.001. The tear break up time was found to be ≤ 10 sec in 26 % (26/100). Schirmers test was found to be ≤ 10 mm in 27 % (27/100). Stains (Rose Bengal and fluorescein stain) were found to be abnormal in 18 %. Retinopathy was seen in 100 % of type I and 9.18 % of type II group. Statistically highly significant association was found between retinopathy and dry eyes (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Diabetes and dry eye appears to have common association. Highly significant statistical correlation was found between retinopathy and dry eyes. Examination for dry eyes should be an integral part of the assessment of diabetic eye disease. KEY WORDS Diabetes, Dry Eye, Diabetic Retinopathy