Evaluation for dry eye & IOP in patients on antihypertensive drugs

This was a case-control, non interventional study of 140 patients (70 cases and 70 controls) which were age and gender matched, conducted from June 2014 to May 2015 in Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Kangra at Tanda, Himachal Pradesh to evaluate for dry eye disease and intra ocular pressure (IOP) changes in patients on anti-hypertensive medications. The prevalence of dry eye in this study was 44.3% in cases and 7.1% in controls, with p value of 0.0001 (<0.05), which is significant. Dry eye was present in all the patients on beta blockers & thiazide diuretics (alone or with combination). Dry eye disease was significantly associated with increasing age and longer duration of antihypertensive treatment. It was observed that average intra ocular pressure was lower in patients on antihypertensive treatment as compared to normal subjects. This shows that these patients may require fewer amounts of anti-glaucoma medications as compared to others. Mild to moderate dry eye disease was present in all the patients on beta blockers & thiazide diuretics (alone or with combination) and average intra ocular pressure was lower in patients on antihypertensive treatment as compare