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. 2022 Jul 1;41(7):845-851.
doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000002804. Epub 2021 Jul 21.

Correlation of Measures From the OCULUS Keratograph and Clinical Assessments of Dry Eye Disease in the Dry Eye Assessment and Management Study

Affiliations

Correlation of Measures From the OCULUS Keratograph and Clinical Assessments of Dry Eye Disease in the Dry Eye Assessment and Management Study

John E Sutphin et al. Cornea. .

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare objective, noninvasive assessments of tear function using the OCULUS Keratograph with the corresponding clinical assessments [tear break-up time (TBUT), Schirmer test, and bulbar erythema] among patients with moderate-to-severe dry eye disease.

Methods: Participants in the Dry Eye Assessment and Management study at centers having an OCULUS Keratograph were assessed using standardized procedures. Associations between the assessments from the Keratograph [noninvasive keratograph break-up time (NIKBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), and bulbar redness (BR)] and clinical examination (TBUT, Schirmer test, and bulbar erythema) and between these test results and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) scores were summarized with Spearman correlation coefficients (r s ); 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) accounted for intereye correlation.

Results: Among 288 patients (576 eyes), the mean (standard deviation) age was 56.6 (13.8) years, 78.1% were female, and the mean baseline OSDI score was 44.3 (14.0). The mean was 2.9 (1.5) seconds for TBUT and 8.2 (5.7) seconds for NIKBUT (their correlation r s = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.09-0.28). The mean was 10.6 (7.6) mm for the Schirmer test and 0.3 (0.2) mm for TMH (r s = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.04-0.25). The median clinical grade redness was mild, and the mean BR score was 1.1 (0.5) (r s = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.15-0.35). Correlation between results of each of the 6 tests and OSDI scores was low (r s from -0.07 to 0.05).

Conclusions: In the Dry Eye Assessment and Management study, NIKBUT, TMH, and BR were weakly correlated with their clinical counterparts. No measurements were correlated with the OSDI score.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02128763.

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Conflict of interest statement

P. A. Asbell has received research funding from MC2 Therapeutics and Novartis; consultant fees from Novartis, ScientiaCME, Shire, and WebMD; and travel/financial compensation from Novartis, Santen, ScientiaCME, and Shire. V. Y. Bunya has received research funding from Bausch & Lomb/Immco Diagnostics and support from the National Eye Institute R01 EY026972. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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