Table 5.

Clinical Parameters and Tear EGF Levels in Control Subjects and Patients with DE Grouped According to FCT and Schirmer 1 Scores

Group	Cutoffs	n	Symptom Severity Score*	Conjunctival Staining Score†	Corneal Staining Score‡	Corneal Fibrotic Changes§	Meibomian Gland Orifice Metaplasia‖	EGF Levels¶
1	FCT ≤ 3	19	15.1 ± 7.97	0 ± 0	0.6 ± 1.9	0 ± 0	0.12 ± 0.3	1335 ± 602
	Schirmer ≥ 8
2	FCT ≤ 3	4	26.3 ± 12.3	0 ± 0	2.6 ± 2.0	0.25 ± 0.5	0.25 ± 0.5	1101 ± 154.4
	Schirmer < 8
3	FCT > 3	18	35.1 ± 11.13	0.8 ± 1.1	4.0 ± 3.0	0.56 ± 0.51	0.87 ± 0.34	3101 ± 2173
	Schirmer ≥ 8		P < 0.00011		P < 0.00011	P < 0.00021,4	P < 0.00011,2,4	P < 0.011,2
								P < 0.0014
4	FCT > 3	11	37.55 ± 10.72	4.7 ± 2.4	7.18 ± 4.7	0.09 ± 0.3	0.18 ± 0.4	433.5 ± 465
	Schirmer < 8		P < 0.00011	P < 0.00011,2,3	P < 0.00011,2,3			P < 0.0011,3

P, ¹vs. group 1; ²vs. group 2; ³vs. group 3; and ⁴vs. group 4. Symboled footnotes are described in Table 3.