Open AccessDry Eye Disease among Pregnant Women at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Kathmandu
Author(s) -
Aparna Rizyal,
B Shrestha,
Anuska Khadka
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
nepal medical college journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2676-1424
DOI - 10.3126/nmcj.v22i3.32640
Subject(s) - medicine , pregnancy , gestation , obstetrics , disease , gestational age , dry eyes , gestational period , cross sectional study , fetus , confidence interval , ophthalmology , genetics , pathology , biology
Pregnancy is characterized by many significant changes in a woman’s body which helps develop the fetus optimally. During pregnancy, there is marked maternal endocrine upregulation, hormonal profile modifications and interactions leading to dry eyes. Pregnancy causes most parts of a woman’s body to change, and the eyes are no exception. Dry eye disease is a common pregnancy problem that usually begins towards the end of the first trimester. Since, there is a dearth of literature on dry eye disease during pregnancy in Nepal, a study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of dry eyes disease among pregnant women and to find its association with socio-demographic characteristics and their gestation period, at Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital. A total of 84 pregnant women in different trimesters volunteered for this study. The upper and lower limits for estimated mean age were 26.67 years to 25.03 years at 95% confidence level. The prevalence of dry eyes was 89.3% by tear break up time test and 27.4% by Schirmer’s test respectively. The association between gestational age and dry eyes by Schirmer’s test was statistically significant.