title: The association of vitamin D deficiency with tear break-up time and Schirmer testing in non-Sjögren dry eye.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of vitamin D deficiency on tear break-up time (TBUT) and Schirmer test scores and to assess their relationship in non-Sjögren dry-eye patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-four patients with serum vitamin D deficiency and 21 control subjects with normal vitamin D levels were included in this study. The TBUT and Schirmer-1 test without topical anesthesia were performed to all patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean TBUT were 5.18±2.15 and 7.36±3.10 s and Schirmer scores were 12.18±6.44 and 18.57±8.99 mm in the study and control groups, respectively. TBUT scores and Schirmer-1 results of the study group were significantly lower than the control group (P=0.01 and 0.007, respectively). The mean vitamin D levels were 11.50±1.8 ng/ml in the study group and 32.8±8.72 ng/ml in control group (P=0.001). Dry-eye symptoms were detected in all patients in the study group and 15% of the patients in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency decreases the TBUT and Schirmer test values and may be associated with dry-eye symptoms in non-Sjögren syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Dr Sami Ulus Maternity and Children's Health and Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Kurtul
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Dr Sami Ulus Maternity and Children's Health and Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Özer
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Dr Sami Ulus Maternity and Children's Health and Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Aydinli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013666:Tears / Q000378:metabolism*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult