A CLINICAL STUDY OF PREVALENCE OF DRY EYES IN DIABETES AND DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is associated with a number of ocular complications which can even lead to blindness. Recently, problems involving the ocular surface, dryness in particular, have been reported in diabetic patients. These patients suffer from a variety of corneal complications, including superficial punctate keratopathy, corneal ulceration, and persistent epithelial defects. In addition, many diabetic patients complain of typical dry eye symptoms, such as burning and/or foreign body sensation, indicating a clear role of tear film abnormalities. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 100 diabetic patients who came to the department of Ophthalmology, MGM Hospital, Mumbai. These patients were examined to study the prevalence of dry eyes in patients with diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. Results: The prevalence of dry eyes in diabetics was 14% with significant association with male gender. The prevalence of Retinopathy among diabetes patients was 18%. Around 55% patients of retinopathy patients suffer from dry eyes, the association was found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: A significant association was found between retinopathy and dry eyes in present study. Examination for dry eye should be an integral part of the assessment of diabetic eye disease.