Association of risk factors with severity of meibomian gland dysfunction

Abstract

Background: Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is an alteration in the function of meibomian glands, leading to decreased tear film stability. We aimed to assess the severity of MGD and correlate it with various risk factors. Material and methods: After taking permission from the Institutional Ethical Committee, a prospective observational case-control study was conducted in a tertiary care centre on 100 consecutive patients diagnosed with MGD. After taking informed consent, patients were assessed for the severity of MGD and correlated with risk factors. Results: The mean age of cases and controls was 53.61 ± 14.02 and 50.7 ± 13.0 years, respectively. Watering and heaviness were found to be the most common symptom in patients diagnosed with MGD. A significant correlation was observed between MGD and elderly females, contact lens wearers, smokers, diabetics, excessive use of visual display terminal, rheumatoid arthritis, use of anti-allergics, anti-hypertensive, anti-depressant, and topical antiglaucoma drugs (p < 0.05). Increasing severity of MGD was associated with female sex, serum triglycerides > 150 mg/dL, total cholesterol > 200 mg/dL, serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) > 130 mg/dL and serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) > 40 mg/dL. Conclusion: The observations in the study suggest a positive correlation between the severity of MGD and dyslipidemia, a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor. A thorough systemic workup is advisable in patients presenting to an ophthalmologist with severe MGD. Identifying and removing or modifying risk factors aggravating MGD would help alleviate their symptoms and improve their quality of life.