TY - JOUR AU - J. Samuel Cornelius Gnanadurai AU - S. Vimala Karunanidhi AU - Balaji Ramraj AU - M. Sathish Kumar AU - S.V. Swamyraj PY - 2019/09/30 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Study of dry eye in post-menopausal women JF - Tropical Journal of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology JA - Trop j ophthalmol otolaryngol VL - 4 IS - 5 SE - Original Article DO - 10.17511/jooo.2019.i05.04 UR - https://opthalmology.medresearch.in/index.php/jooo/article/view/88 AB - Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate hospital-based prevalence of dry eye in post-menopausal women, according to age, symptoms of dry eye and occupation. Materials andMethods: A cross-sectional study of 200 post-menopausal women attending ophthalmology out-patient department of SRM Medical College Hospital for 6 months. The diagnosis of dry eye was based on Schirmer’s test. The value of < 5mm is considered severe dry eye, 5 – 8 mm is moderate dry Eye, 9–14 mm is mild dry eye and > 15 mm is normal. The results were analyzed using the Chi-square test.Results: The prevalence of dry eye in post-menopausal women was 52%. The prevalence of dry eye increases with age from 26.8 % (50-54 years) to 85.7% (>70years). The prevalence of dry eye in patients with symptoms of dry eye was 88% and without symptoms was 30.4%. The Schirmer`s test showed majority of patients had mild dry eye (27.5%) followed by moderate dry eye in 21%. The prevalence of dry eye with outdoor occupation was 64.4% compared to 41.8% for indoors.Conclusion: The prevalence of dry eye in this study was high. Even patients without symptoms of dry eye can have subclinical dry eye. Patients with outdoor occupation had a higher prevalence of dry eye. Simple treatment with artificial tear substitutes can effectively manage mild and moderate dry eye and help post-menopausal women in improving their quality of life. It would be advisable to screen all post-menopausal women for dry eye using a simple Schirmer`s test. ER -