English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Dry eye diseases (DED) tend to be more seen in patients with auto immune disease. This study was an attempt to assess the prevalence of DED among the patients who were diagnosed and confirmed cases of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), SLE and Primary Sjogren’s syndrome (Primary SS). Objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of Dry eye disease among the study participants and determine its severity in connective tissue disorders. METHODS This was a cross sectional study conducted at a tertiary care hospital in the South Kerala. The study period was six months. 30 study participants were enrolled for the study who fulfilled the selection criteria. The study participants were evaluated for DED by Schirmer’s test, Tear break up time and ocular surface staining. Data collected was entered in Microsoft Excel and descriptive data was expressed as frequencies and percentage. RESULTS The overall prevalence of the Dry eye disease was found to be 54%. The prevalence was significantly higher in patients with Primary SS which accounted for 70% followed by patients with RA; which accounted for 52. Dry eye disease was seen only in 40 % of the study participants diagnosed with SLE. Similarly, the severity of Dry eye disease was found higher in patients with Primary SS; where about 35 % had severe to very severe disease. 22 % of the study participants with RA had severe to very severe dry eye disease. There was no severe or very severe dry eye disease in the study participants who had SLE. CONCLUSIONS The overall prevalence of Dry eye disease in patients with autoimmune disease was found to be significantly higher especially in patients who were diagnosed to have Primary SS and RA. There is a need for early diagnosis of dry eye disease in such patients which can improve the cure rate, reduce the complications of the disease and reduce the visual morbidity. KEY WORDS Dry Eye Disease, Primary sjogrens Syndrome, Rheumatoid Arthritis, SLE