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Stronger association between dry eye, allergy may exist

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Migraine headache and sinus issues may be new risk factors in dry eye, according to survey results presented at the Association of Research for Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting.

The Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and 14 additional questions were administered to 60 clinic patients at seven clinical sites.

Subjects were considered to have dry eye if their OSDI was 13 or greater and normal if less than 13. Of all subjects, 44.3% were normal and 55.7% were dry, according to the poster.

The researchers concluded that the only responses that were statistically significant between the two groups of patients were migraine headaches, seeing a doctor for chronic conditions, sinus issues and the use of eye drops. Forty-five percent of the patients had previously consulted an allergist.

Previous known risk factors such as diabetes and smoking were not significant.

A stronger association between allergy and dry eye may exist and needs continued investigation, researchers wrote.

“In everyday patient care, dry eye is one of the most common conditions we see,” co-author Jennifer S. Harthan, OD, FAAO, said in an interview with Primary Care Optometry News.

The case history can indicate whether evidence of dry eye symptomatology exists, prior to clinical exam, she said.

“Some of the traditional questions we often ask our patients who present with dry eye include: Do you smoke, do you have asthma or diabetes and do you wear contact lenses?” she said.

“Two newer risk factors, migraine headaches and sinus issues, were found to be significant for dry eye,” she continued. “The instrumentation utilized in this study has future implications in larger studies as well as in how we practice clinically – we need to make sure we're not missing out on key risk factors.” – by Abigail Sutton

Reference:

Mastrota KM, et al. Assessing a new battery of risk factors for dry eye. Presented at: Association of Research for Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting; May 7-11, 2017; Baltimore.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.