DRY EYES IN PATIENTS OF DIABETES MELLITUS: A CLINICAL PROFILE - a retrospective study.

Purpose: To study tear film changes in patients of Type2 Diabetes Mellitus with and without diabetic retinopathy. Method: A Hospital based, cross-sectional study including 25 patients of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with diabetic retinopathy and 25 patients without diabetic retinopathy.The parameters evaluated for each patient included a questionnaire (based on Mc Monnie’s Dry Eye questionnaire),Schirmer’s basic secretion test(BST) and Tear Film Break-Up Time(TBUT) Results: Based on Schirmer’s test,26% cases of diabetes were found to be suffering from dry eye. The prevalence of dry eye in patients without diabetic retinopathy was 8% (schirmer’s BST) and 36% (TBUT) as compared to 44%(schirmer’s BST) and 64%(TBUT) in patients with diabetic retinopathy. Schirmer’s BST &TBUT were found to decrease with increase in severity of diabetic retinopathy (p< 0.001) .Based on Mc Monnie’s questionnaire also, dry eye score was found to be more in patients with diabetic retinopathy as compared to patients without diabetic retinopathy. Conclusions: Based on clinical parameters, the prevalence and severity of dry eye was more in patients of diabetes mellitus with diabetic retinopathy as compared to those without diabetic retinopathy.