Sex plays a large role in the symptoms of dry eye disease, according to a study. In a large cohort, women had significantly higher symptom scores and a lower correlation between signs and symptoms than men.
Dry eye disease is more prevalent in women. The recent TFOS DEWS II report confirmed that sex and hormones play an important role in the regulation of the ocular surface and adnexa. A study carried out in the Netherlands used a large tertiary dry eye clinic’s database to further explore the role of sex in dry eye disease.
Symptoms and their impact on vision were assessed through the Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire. Dry eye tests, including tear osmolarity, Schirmer, corneal and conjunctival staining, tear breakup time and meibomian gland dysfunction, were performed in both eyes and graded according to a severity score between 0 and 1.
A total of 755 patients with dry eye disease, mostly women, were included. Women, on average, had a higher score for symptoms and higher score for signs in most of the tests performed. Further analysis showed that they had a 40% higher symptom score than men in the mild to moderate signs groups, while this difference was not significant in the severe signs group.
continue reading this article