Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Share by Email
Print
(HealthDay News) — Patients with vitamin D deficiency should be evaluated for dry eye syndromes, according to a study published in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.
Pelin Yildirim, MD, from the Kocaeli Derince Training and Research Hospital in Turkey, and colleagues assessed the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and dry eye and impaired tear function in 98 premenopausal women (50 with vitamin D deficiency).
The researchers found that patients with vitamin D deficiency had lower scores in Schirmer’s test and tear break-up time test (TBUT) and higher scores in the ocular surface disease index (OSDI).
Fatigue severity scale was negatively correlated with Schirmer’s test and TBUT scores, while visual analogue scale-pain was negatively correlated with TBUT scores.
Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire scores showed no significant correlation with dry eye parameters.
Vitamin D level was negatively correlated with OSDI and positively with Schirmer’s test and TBUT scores.
“Dry eye and impaired tear function in patients with vitamin D deficiency may indicate a protective role of vitamin D in the development of dry eye, probably by enhancing tear film parameters and reducing ocular surface inflammation,” the researchers wrote.
