Abstract
Introductiondry eye is a fairly common ocular surface disorder which significantly affects the quality of life of patients. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, and relationship between dry eye and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) among patients with diabetes mellitus.Methodsthis was a descriptive hospital-based study conducted among patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and attending the Diabetic Clinic at a tertiary health facility in Ibadan, south-western Nigeria. Dry eye was assessed using the standardized Ocular Surface Disease Index Questionnaire administered to the eligible respondents on dry eye symptoms. Detailed ocular examination including the tear break-up time (TBUT) and Schirmer I test were carried out and a recent glycosylated haemoglobin value was also obtained.Resultsone hundred and eighty-nine Type 2 diabetic patients were studied, with 68.8% female and a mean age of 60.2 ± 10.3 years. The frequency of dry eye among patients was 21.7% (95% CI, 15.8-27.6). The most commonly reported symptoms of dry eye were “feeling of gritty sensation” (78%, 95% CI, 65.4-90.7) and “blurred vision” (73.2%, 95% CI, 59.6-86.7) while “discomfort in windy areas” (61%, 95% CI, 46.0-75.9) was the most common environmental trigger. No statistically significant correlation was noted between dry eye and HbA1c (r = 0.086, p= 0.239), and age (r = 0.096, p = 0.1)Conclusiondry eye is fairly common among patients with diabetes mellitus with most frequent symptoms being gritty sensation and blurred vision. No significant correlation was noted between dry eye and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c).
Highlights
Dry eye is defined as a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface resulting in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance, and tear film instability with potential damage to the ocular surface
Glycosylated haemoglobin < 6.5% was observed in 106(56.1%) patients while ≥ 9% was noted in 25(13.2%) patients
The prevalence of dry eye in this study was 21.7% and this was higher among male patients (25.5%, 95% CI, 14.3-36.5) than females (20.0%, 95% CI,13.1-26.9) (p = 0.267), with 143(78.3%) patients classified as normal (Table 3)
Summary
Dry eye is defined as a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface resulting in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance, and tear film instability with potential damage to the ocular surface. Diabetes mellitus is defined as a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both [3] It is a disease of public health importance affecting 38.2 million people worldwide with half of this population living in Africa, and it is reported to be on the increase [4]. Dry eye can be assessed using different parameters as documented by previous authors including the tear film osmolarity, [16] symptomatology, [24, 25] use of ocular lubricants, [10] combination of symptoms and sign of dry eye, [14] and the ocular surface disease index (OSDI) score [14]. This study aims to quantify the magnitude and pattern of presentation of dry eye among patients with diabetes mellitus attending the Out-Patient Clinic of a tertiary center in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, and explore any correlation between HbA1c and dry eye among them
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