Effects of Glaucoma Medication on Dry Eye Syndrome and Quality of Life in Patients with Glaucoma

PURPOSE: To investigate ocular surface diseases and changes in the quality of life of patients using glaucoma medications. METHODS: Participants were divided into the normal (31 individuals, 62 eyes) and glaucoma medication (30 patients, 60 eyes) groups. Changes in tear break-up time, lipid layer thickness (LLT), corneal and conjunctival staining scores, ocular surface disease index (OSDI), and Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (VFQ-25) score were assessed for 1 year. RESULTS: The change in mean LLT was lower in glaucomatous eyes than in control eyes (p = 0.019) after 1 year. The results of OSDI deteriorated (p’ = 0.008), but conjunctival staining and Schirmer test results showed improvement in glaucomatous eyes compared to those in control eyes (p’ =0.035 and 0.009, respectively). The average LLT decreased at 6 and 12 months, but there was no change at 24 months. In pairwise analysis, the decrease in LLT over the first 6 months was statistically significant (p < 0.001) and remained unchanged until 24 months. Among the VFQ items, scores for near activity and social function deteriorated over 1 year in the medication group (p’ = 0.033 and 0.015, respectively). However, there was no difference in the total VFQ score. CONCLUSIONS: Significant reduction in LLT and deterioration of OSDI were observed in the medication group compared to the control group. However, this deterioration was observed only in the first 6 months. There was no significant difference in the VFQ total score. Nonetheless, there were significant differences in near activity and social function between the control and medication groups. Therefore, the results of this study showed that although glaucoma medication worsened eye dryness, the change was limited and did not worsen the quality of life. Glaucoma medication should be used with the consideration that they can limit near activity and social functioning.