The Unmet Challenge of Diagnosing and Treating Photophobia

Although patients with abnormal light sensitivity may present to an ophthalmologist or optometrist for the evaluation of photophobia, there are no previous reviews of the most common causes of this symptom.

We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients who presented to our eye center between 2001 and 2009 primarily for the evaluation of photophobia. We recorded demographics, ocular examination findings, and diagnoses of these patients.

Our population included 58 women and 53 men. The mean age at presentation to the clinic was 37 years (range 6 months-94 years). The most frequent cause of photophobia was migraine headache (53.7%), followed by dry eye syndrome (36.1), ocular trauma (8.2%), progressive supranuclear palsy (6.8%), and traumatic brain injury (4.1%). A significant proportion of patients (25.9%) left the clinic without a cause for their photophobia documented by the examining physician (11.7% of adults and 69.4% of children).

Photophobia affects patients of all ages, and many patients are left without a specific diagnosis, indicating a significant knowledge gap among ophthalmologists and optometrists evaluating these patients.