Assessment of Dry Eye Symptoms: Current Trends and Issues of Dry Eye Questionnaires in Japan.

Dry eye disease (DED) is one of the most common disease in the ophthalmic clinic, and the reasons DED patients visit ophthalmic clinics are symptoms such as stinging, burning, or scratchy sensations. The symptoms and visual disturbances of DED have a negative impact on the daily routines and social lives of the patients (i.e., their quality of life [QOL]). The presence of symptoms was required in the definition of DED by the National Eye Institute/Industry Workshop in 1995; therefore, disease-specific questionnaires were essential for monitoring and managing patients with DED. Thereafter, many questionnaires have been developed to evaluate the specific symptoms of dry eyes. Although many questionnaires are available to assess the dry eye symptoms, it is essential that they provide valid answers and are easy to use to assess the effects of DED on the QOL. The Asia Dry Eye Society and Japan Dry Eye Society have proposed a new definition of DED that is a combination of symptoms and an unstable tear film, and information on these two factors is sufficient to make a definitive diagnosis of DED. Therefore, the assessments of the symptoms are fundamental in the diagnosis of DED.

Noninvasive Dry Eye Assessment Using High-Technology Ophthalmic Examination Devices.

Recently, the number of dry eye cases has dramatically increased. Thus, it is important that easy screening, exact diagnoses, and suitable treatments be available. We developed 3 original and noninvasive assessments for this disorder. First, a DR-1 dry eye monitor was used to determine the tear meniscus height quantitatively by capturing a tear meniscus digital image that was analyzed by Meniscus Processor software. The DR-1 meniscus height value significantly correlated with the fluorescein meniscus height (r = 0.06, Bland-Altman analysis). At a cutoff value of 0.22 mm, sensitivity of the dry eye diagnosis was 84.1% with 90.9% specificity. Second, the Tear Stability Analysis System was used to quantitatively measure tear film stability using a topographic modeling system corneal shape analysis device. Tear film stability was objectively and quantitatively evaluated every second during sustained eye openings. The Tear Stability Analysis System is currently installed in an RT-7000 autorefractometer and topographer to automate the diagnosis of dry eye. Third, the Ocular Surface Thermographer uses ophthalmic thermography for diagnosis. The decrease in ocular surface temperature in dry eyes was significantly greater than that in normal eyes (P < 0.001) at 10 seconds after eye opening. Decreased corneal temperature correlated significantly with the tear film breakup time (r = 0.572; P < 0.001). When changes in the ocular surface temperature of the cornea were used as indicators for dry eye, sensitivity was 0.83 and specificity was 0.80 after 10 seconds. This article describes the details and potential of these 3 noninvasive dry eye assessment systems.