Posters

Menstrual irregularities amongst adolescent girls visiting an ophthalmology clinic

Poster Details

First Author: J.Bansal INDIA

Co Author(s):    T. Bansal   V. Arora   P. Bansal              

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Hormonal changes across menstrual cycle have been shown to influence retinal function and vision. During clinical practice, the authors have observed that a large number of adolescent girls with visual problems report of menstrual irregularities. The present study is an attempt to record the prevalence of menstrual irregularities and their association with different types of visual problems in a speciality clinic of North India.

Setting:

Sumitra Eye Care and Maternity Centre is a premier ophthalmologic, obstetric and gynaecologic centre in north India with an annual patient turnover to the tune of 15,000-20,000. The facility caters primarily to suburban and underprivileged population of Lucknow city.

Methods:

A total of 2218 adolescent girls aged 13-19 years visiting the Ophthalmology OPD with complaints of visual problems from 1st September, 2014 to 31st August, 2016 were enrolled in the study. Enquiry regarding menstrual irregularities was made from all the girls. Nature and type of visual problem was noted in all the cases. All the girls reporting of menstrual irregularities were subsequently referred to Gynaecologist and were advised hormonal assessment. Pelvic transabdominal ultrasound was advised wherever indicated. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0.

Results:

Most of the girls had Myopia (n=2013; 90.8%) followed by astigmatism (n=185; 8.3%) and hypermetropia (n=20;0.90%). Menstrual irregularities were reported by 702 (31.65%). Hormonal assessment was completed in 140 girls. Maximum girls had hypomenorrhoea (n=52; 37.1%) followed by menorrhagia (25.7%), menometrorrhagia (15.0%), oligomenorrhea (12.9%) and amenorrhoea (9.3%) respectively. S. FSH levels were <4 mIU/ml in 12.1% girls, Serum testosterone >6.8 nmol/L in 34 (24.3%) girls, LH/FSH ratio <2 in 24 (17.1%) and Prolactin >24 ng/ml in 11 (7.9%) girls. Thyroid abnormalities were observed in 16 (11.4%) girls. No significant association was observed between visual problem type and hormonal profile.

Conclusions:

The present study showed a high prevalence of complaints of menstrual irregularities among adolescent girls with visual problems. However, no correlation between type of visual problems and hormonal profile could be established. In view of the specific design of the study, it could not be established whether menstrual irregularities influence the visual acuity and result in refractive error problems. However, a high prevalence of menstrual problems among this set of adolescent girls, probably influenced by growing lifestyle changes, indicates the need for lifestyle changes and a further enquiry to explore as to how does menstrual irregularities affect the visual acuity..

Financial Disclosure:

NONE