
Dry eye cases increase in patients with sleep apnea
The incidence of
There is also a gender component to this increased incidence of
“As eye care providers, we need to start asking our patients whether they use a CPAP device. Dry Eye Disease is prevalent among this subgroup,” said Cynthia Matossian, MD, who is in private practice in Doylestown, PA, and Hopewell, NJ.
While the prevalence of
Related: It takes a village to care for dry eye patients
The prevalence of
Sleep apnea affects both men genders but is substantially among men, 13% to 14% compared with 5% to 6% among women, and the prevalence rates increased markedly from 1994 to 2010.
Interestingly, the recommended treatment for sleep apnea is associated with ocular disorders, that is, ocular irritation caused by airflow from a leaky mask or retrograde nasolacrimal escape of air, she noted.
Related:
Retrospective descriptive analysis
In light of the statistics, Dr. Matossian and colleagues analyzed data to identify any real-world associations between
The investigators looked at data between Jan. 1, 2013, to June 30, 2018, from the IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental Databases, both of which contain the inpatient/outpatient prescription drug experience among several million patients covered by a variety of insurance plans.
The study, which was sponsored by Sun Pharma, included adults if they had one or more claims of CPAP or other nasal mask device use during the study period, one or more inpatient/outpatient diagnoses of sleep apnea in the 12 months before the onset of device use, continuous enrollment in a medical or pharmacy insurance program for 12 months or longer before and after the first date of the study, and no diagnosis of DED in the 12 months before onset of device use.
A total of 330,926 patients (median age, 53 years) were included in the study, 65% of whom were men. Overall, 13,176 patients had
Dr. Matossian and colleagues found important associations with the increased incidence of
Related: Treating dry eye with recombinant human nerve growth factor
According to Dr. Matossian, the one-, two-, and three-year
The incidence of DED increased with age; the one-year incidence rates ranged from 1.6% in patients 18 to 24 years old and 11.2% in those aged 75 years and older. The one-year incidence rate in women was higher than in men, 5.8% compared with 3.0%.
The presence of specific comorbidities made a difference, that is, the incidence of
The findings were that the incidence of
Users of the CPAP device who were women, older, or had comorbid inflammatory or metabolic conditions may experience a higher incidence of
Read more by Lynda Charters
Cynthia Matossian, MD
E: [email protected]
Dr. Matossian has no financial interest in any aspect of this report.
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