Study to Find the Burden of Dry Eye in Diabetic Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Introduction: Dry eye refers to reduced tear production and/or excessive tear evaporation in the tear film of the eye and is often associated with symptoms of ocular discomfort. Dry eye disease is more commonly seen in people with type 2 diabetes. The objective of the present study is to find the burden of dry eye in diabetic patients. Methodology: A hospital based observational study was conducted among the diabetic patients registered during October 2017 to September 2018 under Regional institute of Ophthalmology (RIO), RIMS, Ranchi. Purposive sampling was carried out and a total of 54 diabetic patients were interviewed. Logistic regression (LR) was used for statistical analysis. Results and Conclusion: In the present study, total 54 diabetic patients were interviewed in which 31 (57.4%) had dry eye. Most of the study participant belonged to the age group of 41 - 60 years (51.9%); 55.6% (30) were female. 51.85% of the cases were having diabetic retinopathy. By applying LR the strength of association for dry eye was seen more in > 60 years of age group, having diabetes > 5 years and patients having diabetic retinopathy which were found to be statistically significant