Table 1.
Demographics, questionnaire scores and sex hormone serum levels of all AI patients included in the study. Classification of dry eye disease was based on OSDI score (i.e. ≥13).
| Total | Asymptomatic | Symptomatic | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of patients, n (%) | 25 | 9 (36) | 16 (64) | |
| Age, years (mean, SD) | 62.3 ± 10 | 61.3 ± 9.3 | 62.8 ± 10.6 | 0.730 |
| AI duration, months (mean, SD)a | 35.8 ± 26.4 | 26.87 ± 19.4 | 40.78 ± 29.04 | 0.304 |
| Breast cancer treatment, n (%) | ||||
| Radiotherapy | 18 (72) | 6 (67) | 12 (75) | 0.656 |
| Chemotherapy | 24 (96) | 7 (79) | 12 (75) | 0.876 |
| Breast surgery | 20 (80) | 8 (89) | 15 (94) | 0.667 |
| Biological therapy | 4 (16) | 2 (22) | 2 (13) | 0.524 |
| BMI score | 28.4 ± 10.8 | 27.45 ± 3.5 | 28.87 ± 13.36 | 0.759 |
| BMI, n (%) | ||||
| Normal | 10 (40) | 2 (25) | 8 (50) | 0.394 |
| Overweight | 13 (52) | 6 (75) | 7 (44) | |
| Obese | 2 (8) | 1 (13) | 1 (6) | |
| Waist circumference, cm (mean, SD) | 80 ± 27 | 92.6 ± 11.6 | 72.7 ± 31.1 | 0.081 |
| Questionnaires (mean, SD) | ||||
| OSDI | 24.1 ± 18.1 | 6.2 ± 4.9 | 34.1 ± 14.6 | <0.001 |
| SPEED | 9 ± 6 | 5.7 ± 5.0 | 11.0 ± 4.9 | 0.015 |
| FACT-ES | 147.9 ± 19.4 | 146.4 ± 18.9 | 148.7 ± 20.2 | 0.787 |
| Serum levels (mean, SD) | ||||
| Cholesterol, mmol/L | 5.3 ± 0.9 | 5.5 ± 0.7 | 5.1 ± 1.0 | 0.429 |
| Testosterone, nmol/L | 0.6 ± 0.5 | 0.5 ± 0.1 | 0.7 ± 0.6 | 0.202 |
| DHEA, nmol/La | 9.6 ± 6.6 | 7.7 ± 4.8 | 10.7 ± 7.3 | 0.698 |
| SHBG, nmol/L | 66 ± 32.3 | 59.3 ± 19.6 | 69.4 ± 37.1 | 0.484 |
| Estradiol, pmol/L (n, %)b | ||||
| <5 | 21 (88) | 7 (88) | 14 (88) | 0.999 |
| <10 | 2 (8) | 1 (12) | 1 (6) | |
| 75 | 1 (4) | 0 | 1 (6) | |
One patient did not follow up with blood collection.
Key: AI Aromatase inhibitor, SD Standard deviation, BMI Body mass index, OSDI Ocular surface disease index, SPEED Standard patient evaluation of eye dryness, FACT-ES Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: For patients with Endocrine symptoms, mmol/L millimoles per litre, nmol/L nanomoles per litre, pmol/L picomoles per litre.
aMann–Whitney U test.
bFisher Exact Test.
Bold values shown significant difference i.e. p < 0.05.