Evaluation of meibomian glands loss and tear film breakup time in patients with varying period of soft contact lenses wearing

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether the wearing time of contact lenses affects the condition of the meibomian glands and the tear film breakup time. Material and methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving 150 eyes ( 75 patients) with an age between 18 to 65 years. Five groups were allocated, with distribution criteria being the soft contact lenses wearing time: up to 5 years, from 6 to 10 years, from 11 to 20 years and more than 20 years. All subjects used soft contact lenses daily, at least 5 hours a day and 4 days a week. All patients underwent a thorough ophthalmic examination and non invasive tear film breakup time (NIBUT), and meibomian gland loss (MGL) investigated with Oculus Keratograph 5 M. Results: A statistically significant relation with the soft contact lenses wearing time has been found for the indicator MGL,% (U) (p = 0.025). In the general study of male and female patients, a significant association was only observed in female patients (p = 0.04). A statistically significant relation to the soft contact lenses wearing time has been found for the indicators NIBUT 1, s ( P=0.035) и NIBUT Av, s ( P=0.023). The same relation has been found only in female patients - NIBUT 1, s ( P=0.035] и NIBUT Av, s ( P=0.023). Conclusion: Long-term contact lenses wearing is proportional to the change in gland function and may contribute to the development of dry eye syndrome.