Medida del índice de refracción de la lágrima en pacientes entre 18 y 40 años, con diagnóstico de ojo seco vinculados a la Universidad Santo Tomás Seccional Bucaramanga para el año 2019

Abstract

Introduction: The tear film is a thin, moist, organized and specialized layer that protects the ocular surface exposed to the environment, it is made up of three main substrates (oily, aqueous and mucinous) (1, 2, 3). when there are changes in it by exogenous agents or endogenous, dry eye disease can occur, generating visual health disorders and changes in its refractive index. Background: in the United States, approximately 3.23 million and 1.68 million women and men suffered from dry eye in the year (4, 5). Objective: To analyze the tear refraction index attending to variations in the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in patients between 18 to 40 years with dry eye syndrome associated with the Universidad Santo Tomás Seccional Bucaramanga in 2019. Methodology: quantitative, observational study, descriptive of cross section. 42 patients were selected non-probabilistically. Results: 57% of the population correspond to women. Clinically, mucodeficent dry eye presented in 52%, based on the severity of the disease, mild and moderate dry eye had higher prevalence (45% and 40%). No statistically significant results were found when analyzing the association between the refractive index with age, the Schirmer and the B.U.T. Conclusions: a relationship was found between the refractive index and sex, finding higher data in the female population. Mild dry eye was more frequent in male patients; Due to the high prevalence of mild eye, no significant signs were found on the ocular surface. The tear refractive index is variable considering that the refractometer used makes measurements for values close to the wavelengths of yellow, this also implies that these variations will occur for the rest of the wavelengths of the visible or electromagnetic spectrum.