Dry Eye Disease Corneal Pain, Past Treatment Associated with Poorer Quality of Life

Among patients with dry eye disease, those with corneal neuropathic pain and a history of treatment or surgery for the condition reported worse quality of life as reflected by their responses to various questionnaires. Researchers shared their findings at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, in April.

The abstract, published online in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, included 211 patients with a diagnosis of dry eye disease. The mean age of participants, 83% of whom were female, was 55.5 ± 15.4 years. Researchers evaluated responses to the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, Ocular Comfort Index (OCI) questionnaire, and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) to gauge the impact of dry eye disease on patient quality of life.

Compared with patients with evaporative dry eye disease, patients with mixed aqueous/evaporative dry eye disease had lower average scores on the OSDI overall and its activity limitation subscale, according to the study.

Quality of life scores were lower for patients with corneal neuropathic pain than for patients without such pain, patients with a prior dry eye disease treatment than for untreated patients, and patients who had undergone dry eye disease-related surgery than for those who did not, the study found.

Additionally, dry eye disease signs, such as tear-film break-up time and staining, were not significantly associated with dry eye disease symptoms, researchers noted.

“The discordance between signs and symptoms suggested that dry eye disease management should include a comprehensive evaluation of both signs and symptoms,” researchers advised, “as they complement each other.”

Reference: 
Kandel H, Stapleton F, Downie LE, et al. Impact of dry eye disease on quality of life: a Save Sight Dry eye Registry study. Investig Ophthal & Vis Sci. 2023;64(8):3979.