Abstract:

Objective To study the relationship between dry eye symptoms and lipid layer thickness(LLT) in dry eye patients. Design Retrospective case series. Participants 139 dry eye patients were selected from ophthalmology department Tongren Hospital  from July 2015 to October (81 of females and 58 males, age range=18-77 years, mean age= 37.75 ±12.86 years). Methods All patients were required to complete the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire after which their LLTs were evaluated using a new interferometer (LipiView, TearScience Inc, Morrisville, NC). Based on the OSDI questionnaire scores, 139 patients were divided into three groups: mild symptom group (0~20 scores), moderate symptom group (21~45 scores) and severe symptom group(46~100 scores). The relationship between the OSDI score and LLT, as well as the relationship between different degree symptoms and LLT were analyzed. Main Outcome Measures OSDI score and LLT. Results OSDI score was negatively correlated with LLT(r=-0.256, P=0.002), i.e. with the increase of OSDI score, lipid layer thickness decreased. OSDI questionnaire including 12 items, only foreign body sensation, painful or sore, watching TV or computer causing discomfort were correlated with LLT(r=-0.206, -0.232, -0.190, -0.179 respectively，all P<0.05)， the other 8 items had no relevance with LLT. Among three different severe groups, LLT was significantly different by analysis of variance, especially between the mild symptom group (64.89±16.403 nm) and the severe symptom group (54.65±14.481 nm)(F=10.092, P=0.027). There were 40% of (14 people) patients with LLT≤60 nm in mild symptom group, while 70% of (30 people) patients in severe symptom group; the proportion of the patients with LLT≤60 nm in severe symptom group was significantly greater than mild symptom group(χ2=6.953, P=0.008). Conclusion Dry eye symptoms have negative correlation with the lipid layer thickness of dry eye patients, especially foreign body sensation, painful or sore, watching TV or computer causing discomfort symptoms appear to be significantly associated with the lipid layer thickness, and as the symptoms increased lipid layer thickness decreased. The more serious of dry eye symptoms, the greater chance of lipid layer thickness was less than 60 nm. (Ophthalmol CHN, 2017, 26: 90-94)

Key words: dry eye, ocular surface disease index(OSDI), lipid layer thickness