Posters

Is there any relation between body mass index and dry eye syndrome?

Poster Details

First Author: I.Careba UK

Co Author(s):    S. Oros   S. Gradinaru   C. Badiu   L. Voinea     

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Dry eye disease (DED) is a common eye condition found mostly in menopausal (M) patients. Menopause is the period in a woman’s life in which many changes are happening, one of which being related to weight. In this study we present the relation between body mass index (BMI) and DED in M women.

Setting:

Eye Clinic, Emergency University Hospital – Bucharest, Romania

Methods:

Fifty six M females (>44 years of age) were classified into two groups: without DED (21 patients) and with DED (mild DED (6 patients), moderate DED (13 patients), severe DED (12 patients), very severe DED (4 patients)), based on their answers to the Ocular Surface Disease Index questionnaire and results of the following tests: tear break-up time, Schirmer test without anesthesia and corneal staining with fluorescein. We classified the patients into the following groups: underweight (BMI<18.5), normal (BMI between 18.5 - 25), overweight (BMI between 25 - 30) and obese (BMI>30).

Results:

We calculated the patients’ average weight (74.84 kg) and average BMI (29.53) using statistical methods. Thus, we found out that 44.6% of the patients were overweight, 39.3% were obese and 16.1% had normal weight. As for weight analysis, BMI analysis in relation to the severity of DED progressively decreases from 33.05 (in patients without DED) to 23.50 (in patients with very severe DED). Therefore, the results showed a significant difference between the high percentage of overweight and obese patients in the absence of DED or mild DED, compared to a lower percentage in patients with moderate to very severe DED.

Conclusions:

We analyzed the possible relation between patients’ weight and BMI and DED severity in a group of M patients with different degrees of DED. The results show that patients with severe DED have significantly less BMI scores, thus a lower percentage of obesity, compared to patients without DED or mild DED. This work received financial support through the project entitled 'CERO – Career profile: Romanian Researcher', grant number POSDRU/159/1.5/S/135760, cofinanced by the European Social Fund for Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013. FINANCIAL DISCLOUSRE: NONE