The breastfeeding effect on the tear film of women: an observational study Authors Mana Alafri Alanazi Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Gamal Abdel-Rahman El-Hiti Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Amjad Ali Alshamrani Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Mashaaer Abdulwahhab Baashen Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Raied Fagehi Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Ali Mohammed Masmali Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia DOI: https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.8049 Keywords: Dry eye, Tear film, Tear ferning test, Breastfeeding, Risk factor Abstract Objective: To assess the tear film parameters in breastfeeding women. Method: The observational study was conducted at the College of Applied Medical Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from December 15, 2021, to February 12, 2022, and comprised healthy women aged 18-40 years who had no ocular diseases. Breastfeeding women were in group A and non-breastfeeding women formed the control group B. Ocular surface disease index, phenol red thread, and tear ferning tests were used in that order to assess the tear film for all the subjects. A gap of 5 minutes was allowed between phenol red thread and tear ferning tests. Data was analysed using SPSS, version 22. Results: Of the 50 subjects, 25(50%) were in group A with mean age 30.4 ± 5.9 years having a mean breastfeeding period of 5.4±5.0 months. The remaining 25(50%) women were in group B with mean age 28.5±2.1 years. Significant differences were found between the groups for ocular surface disease index, phenol red thread, and tear ferning (p<0.05). Significant moderate correlation was found between tear ferning grades and breastfeeding duration (p<0.05). Conclusion: Breastfeeding was found to increase dry eye symptoms in women. Key Words: Dry eye, Tear film, Tear ferning test, Breastfeeding, Risk factor. Downloads Full Text Article Published 2023-10-30 How to Cite Alanazi, M. A., El-Hiti, G. A.-R., Alshamrani, A. A., Baashen, M. A., Fagehi, R., & Masmali, A. M. (2023). The breastfeeding effect on the tear film of women: an observational study. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 73(11), 2200–2204. https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.8049 More Citation Formats ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver Download Citation Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX Issue Vol. 73 No. 11 (2023): NOVEMBER Section RESEARCH ARTICLE License Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.