Abstract
Purpose: To establish the prevalence of ocular surface disease (OSD) in glaucoma patients using topical intraocular pressure-lowering (IOP) therapy and to compare the frequency and severity of symptoms with the control group of normal subjects.Methods: This prospective, multicenter, observational study included patients with glaucoma in four different Departments of Ophthalmology. A matched group of normal subjects served as controls. For each patient we have collected detailed family history, clinical records and calculated ocular surface disease index (OSDI) scores (0-100), based on the information obtained from OSDI questionnaires.Results: In total, we have evaluated 160 patients. Of those, 110 were glaucoma patients and 50 were normal subjects. Among 110 glaucoma treated patients 83 (75%) had OSDI scores indicating mild to severe OSD. Among 50 patients without glaucoma 15 (30%) had OSDI score indicating mostly mild to moderate OSD. The severity of symptoms correlates with the number of IOP medications used and the duration of treatment.Conclusion: This study confirms the high prevalence of OSD in patients treated for glaucoma with topical IOP medications. The adverse effect of these agents can influence the compliance and successful treatment of glaucoma patients.
Highlights
Ocular surface disease (OSD) can be defined as a group of disorders that affects various components of the ocular surface
Majority of glaucoma medications contain some level of benzalkonium chloride (BAK) which is used to decrease the risk of contamination or to enhance their permeability
One hundred and sixty patients from four different Ophthalmology Departments participated in this study by completing ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire
Summary
Ocular surface disease (OSD) can be defined as a group of disorders that affects various components of the ocular surface. It is a very common disorder in clinical practice and one of the most frequent reasons of patients’ visits to ophthalmologists. Causes of OSD are environmental and genetic factors, age, dry eye syndrome, blepharitis and meibomian gland dysfunction as well as preservative-containing eye drops. Numerous studies suggest that frequent and long-term instillation of preserved ophthalmic products may compromise ocular surface and induce symptoms such as dryness, irritation or negative impact on visual function [4,5,6]
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