Dry Eye Syndrome in Menopause and Perimenopausal Age Group

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Abstract

Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial ocular surface disease that causes symptoms of ocular pain, discomfort, and decreased visual acuity. It significantly affects quality of life of patients. It is more prevalent in the females and is being specifically in the menopausal and postmenopausal age group. This is believed to be due to the changes in balance of sex hormones. Sex hormones – estrogens and androgens – influence production of all components of the tear film including aqueous layer, lipid, and mucin. Various mechanisms such as decrease in hormonal levels, shift in feedback mechanisms, and changes in receptor receptivity interplay to alter the ocular surface homeostasis and subsequently result in DED. Several studies have suggested potential role of hormone replacement therapy in menopause-associated dry eye symptoms. The purpose of this review is to help the non ophthalmic physicians about DED encountered commonly in menopausal age group. It is important for primary care physicians to understand DED due to its high prevalence, often debilitating symptoms and the potentially preventable and treatable nature of the condition.

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Most cited references 23

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Prevalence of dry eye syndrome among US women.

Debra Schaumberg, David A. Sullivan, Julie Buring … (2003)

Dry eye syndrome (DES) is believed to be one of the most common ocular problems in the United States (US), particularly among older women. However, there are few studies describing the magnitude of the problem in women and how this may vary with demographic characteristics. Cross-sectional prevalence survey. we surveyed 39,876 US women participating in the Women's Health Study about a history of diagnosed DES and dry eye symptoms. we defined DES as the presence of clinically diagnosed DES or severe symptoms (both dryness and irritation constantly or often). We calculated the age-specific prevalence of DES and adjusted the overall prevalence to the age distribution of women in the US population. We used logistic regression to examine associations between DES and other demographic factors. The prevalence of DES increased with age, from 5.7% among women or = 75 years old. The age-adjusted prevalence of DES was 7.8%, or 3.23 million women aged > or = 50 in the US. Compared with Whites, Hispanic (odds ratio [OR] = 1.81, confidence interval [CI] = 1.18-2.80) and Asian (OR = 1.77, CI = 1.17-2.69) women were more likely to report severe symptoms, but not clinically diagnosed DES. There were no significant differences by income (P([trend]) =.78), but more educated women were less likely to have DES (P([trend]) =.03). Women from the South had the highest prevalence of DES, though the magnitude of geographic differences was modest. Dry eye syndrome leading to a clinical diagnosis or severe symptoms is prevalent, affecting over 3.2 million American women middle-aged and older. Although the condition is more prevalent among older women, it also affects many women in their 40s and 50s. Further research is needed to better understand DES and its impact on public health and quality of life.

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Prevalence of dry eye among an elderly Chinese population in Taiwan: the Shihpai Eye Study.

Pei-Yu Lin, Su-Ying Tsai, Ching-Yu Cheng … (2003)

To describe the epidemiology of dry eye in an elderly Chinese population in Taipei, Taiwan. A population-based cross-sectional study. The Shihpai Eye Study was a population-based survey of eye diseases in the elderly (> or =65 years) in Shihpai, Taipei, Taiwan. Noninstitutionalized residents, as of July 1999, were identified by using the official household registration database. A total of 2045 subjects were selected, and 1361 (66.6%) people participated in the study. Among them, 822 (60.4%) were men. Trained interviewers administered a standardized questionnaire pertaining to dry-eye symptoms. Objective examinations of dry eye included tear film breakup time, Schirmer test, fluorescein stain of the cornea, and anatomic assessment of the meibomian glands via slit-lamp biomicroscopy. Frequency of dry-eye symptoms and positive dry-eye tests. In this population, 33.7% (459/1361) were symptomatic, defined as reporting 1 or more dry-eye symptoms often or all of the time. Women were more likely to report frequent symptoms of dry eye (odds ratio, 1.49; 95% confidence interval, 1.19-1.87). Among those who were symptomatic, 78.9% (362/459) had a low tear film breakup time (< or =10 seconds), 62.5% (287/459) had a low Schirmer test result (< or =5 mm), and 61.7% (283/459) had abnormal anatomic features of the meibomian glands. Furthermore, 85.4% (392/459) were symptomatic and had either a low Schirmer score or an abnormal meibomian gland assessment. Of those symptomatic, 49.9% (229/459) indicated that they had visited an eye doctor, 5.4% (25/459) responded that they had been diagnosed with dry eye, and 47.5% (218/459) reported current use of eyedrops. This is the first report of population-based data of dry eye that includes symptoms and signs in elderly Asians. The prevalence of dry eye, although varied according to definition, is relatively higher in this study than that reported for whites. Further studies are needed to determine whether this is due to racial or environmental factors.

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The epidemiology of dry eye in Melbourne, Australia.

Y Stanislavsky, David P. Livingston, Jack C McCarty … (1998)

To describe the epidemiology of dry eye in the adult population of Melbourne, Australia. A cross-sectional prevalence study. Participants were recruited by a household census from two of nine clusters of the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project, a population-based study of age-related eye disease in the 40 and older age group of Melbourne, Australia. Nine hundred and twenty-six (82.3% of eligible) people participated; 433 (46.8%) were male. They ranged in age from 40 to 97 years, with a mean of 59.2 years. Self-reported symptoms of dry eye were elicited by an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Four objective assessments of dry eye were made: Schirmer's test, tear film breakup time, rose bengal staining, and fluorescein corneal staining. A standardized clinical slit-lamp examination was performed on all participants. Dry eye for the individual signs or symptoms was defined as: rose bengal > 3, Schirmers 1/3 fluorescein staining, and severe symptoms (3 on a scale of 0 to 3). Dry eye was diagnosed as follows: 10.8% by rose bengal, 16.3% by Schirmer's test, 8.6% by tear film breakup time, 1.5% by fluorescein staining, 7.4% with two or more signs, and 5.5% with any severe symptom not attributed to hay fever. Women were more likely to report severe symptoms of dry eye (odds ratio [OR] = 1.85; 95% confidence limits [CL] = 1.01, 3.41). Risk factors for two or more signs of dry eye include age (OR = 1.04; 95% CL = 1.01, 1.06), and self-report of arthritis (OR = 3.27; 95% CL = 1.74, 6.17). These results were not changed after excluding the 21 people (2.27%) who wore contact lenses. These are the first reported population-based data of dry eye in Australia. The prevalence of dry eye varies by sign and symptom.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Midlife Health

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J Midlife Health

Journal ID (publisher-id): JMH

Title: Journal of Mid-Life Health

Publisher: Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd (India )

ISSN (Print): 0976-7800

ISSN (Electronic): 0976-7819

Publication date (Print): Apr-Jun 2017

Volume: 8

Issue: 2

Pages: 51-54

Affiliations

[1]Department of Ophthalmology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Author notes

Address for correspondence: Dr. Shruti Aggarwal, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Virginia, 1300 Jefferson Park Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA. E-mail: shrutiaggarwal428@ 123456gmail.com

Article

Publisher ID: JMH-8-51

DOI: 10.4103/jmh.JMH_41_17

PMC ID: 5496280

PubMed ID: 28706404

SO-VID: 18e17592-e8a7-44d7-b7c9-49c034d057cd

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This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

Dry Eye Syndrome in Menopause and Perimenopausal Age Group

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Abstract

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Sex hormones and lung development

Most cited references 23

Prevalence of dry eye syndrome among US women.

Prevalence of dry eye among an elderly Chinese population in Taiwan: the Shihpai Eye Study.

The epidemiology of dry eye in Melbourne, Australia.

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