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Dry eye in older women may be underdiagnosed

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BOSTON — Dry eye is a serious health concern for older women and may remain undiagnosed, a large-scale study has found.

Debra Schaumberg, ScD, OD, MPH and colleagues at the Schepens Eye Research Institute surveyed more than 37,000 women as part of the Women’s Health Study. Their finding suggest that 7.8% of women more than 50 years of age may have dry eye. Extrapolating that to the general population, Dr. Schaumberg and colleagues estimate that 3.2 million women in the U.S. may be affected by dry eye.

Women in their 40s in the study experienced dry eye, but the prevalence increased significantly with age. Hispanic and Asian women were more likely to report severe symptoms but not more likely to have been diagnosed correctly than white or black women.

Because the subjects of the Women’s Health Study are health care workers, they may be more healthy than the general population, the authors observed. If this is true, the general population may have an even higher prevalence of dry eye.

The results are published in the August issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology.