JACQLQ subjective symptom questionnaire score and clinical test results for patients with allergic conjunctival disease

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between subjective symptoms and objective findings in patients with allergic conjunctival diseases (ACD) and test results for tear total IgE (t-tIgE), conjunctival eosinophils (c-Eo), serum total IgE (s-tIgE), serum-antigen specific IgE (s-sIgE), and serum eosinophils (s-Eo). Subjective symptoms and objective findings of patients with ACD were evaluated using Japanese Allergic Conjunctival Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (JACQLQ), which described disability score and emotional score written by patient and clinical findings score written by ophthalmologist. We investigated the relationship between questionnaire scores and laboratory data for t-tIgE, c-Eo, s-tIgE, s-sIgE, and s-Eo. Scores of impediments to life and of moods were highest in vernal keratoconjunctivitis among ACD. Cases with positive pollen-sIgE showed significantly more nasal symptom score than those with negative pollen-sIgE (P < 0.05). Cases with positive t-tIgE or c-Eo showed significantly more objective symptoms' JACQLQ score than those with negative t-tIgE or c-Eo (P < 0.05), respectively. Cases positive for house dust/mite-sIgE, showed significantly more objective symptoms' JACQLQ score than those without for house dust/mite-sIgE (P < 0.05). These results indicate that ACD could be analyzed more accurately by the combination of JACQLQ and laboratory data.

Keywords: Allergic conjunctival disease; Quality of Life; Serum total IgE; Serum-specific IgE; Tear total IgE.

Figure 1

Comparison of subjective symptoms and quality of life’s score by JACQLQ ver1 between cases positive or negative for serum-specific IgE, * p < 0.05. Serum-specific IgE-negative patients had significantly higher Nasal symptoms’ scores (p < 0.05).

Figure 2

Comparison of subjective symptoms and quality of life’s score by JACQLQ ver1 between cases positive or negative for pollen-specific IgE, * p < 0.05. Pollen-specific IgE-positive patients had significantly higher nasal symptoms’ scores (p < 0.05).

Figure 3

Comparison of objective symptoms’ scores by JACQLQ ver1 between cases positive or negative for tear total IgE, serum specific IgE and conjunctival eosinophils, * p < 0.05. Tear total IgE-positive and Conjunctival eosinophils-positive patients had significantly higher objective symptoms’ scores (p < 0.05).

Figure 4

Objective symptoms score by JACQLQ ver1 between cases positive or negative for antigen specific IgE antibody, * p < 0.05. Serum-specific IgE-positive means that the antibodies were greater than the standard values in View39 test, and serum-specific IgE-negative means that those were blow the standard value. House dust/mite-specific IgE-positive patients had significantly higher objective symptoms’ scores (p < 0.05). Significant difference was observed between cases with and without animal-insects or plant-based foods-specific IgE by Wilcoxon rank sum test (P < 0.05). HD, house dust.

Figure 5

Comparison of objective symptoms by JACQLQ ver1 between high and low level groups of serum total IgE, ratio and number of peripheral blood eosinophils, * p < 0.05. Objective symptoms’ scores were significantly higher in patients with serum total IgE greater than 170 IU/mL (p < 0.05).

Figure 6

Correlation between subjective symptoms and objective symptoms. The slope of the linear regression equation was significant (p = 0.01).

Figure 7

Correlation between objective symptoms and eye symptom total score (R2 = 0.09, p < 0.01) and objective symptoms and nasal symptom total score (R2 = 0.01, p = 0.29). Although the correlation between the total score of eye symptoms and the objective symptoms was not that strong, there was a somewhat weak correlation (R2 = 0.09, p < 0.01). There was no correlation between the subjective symptom score and the total score of nasal symptoms (R2 = 0.01, p = 0.29).