Table 2.
Demographics of all subjects and each subgroup in the artificial tear and acupuncture groups.
| Subgroups | N (eyes)† | N (subjects) | Age, mean (y) | Male-to-female ratio | Duration of dry eye, (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All subjects | |||||
| Artificial tear group | 102 | 52 | 46 | 0.44 | 16 |
| Acupuncture group | 86 | 44 | 45 | 0.63 | 18 |
| P value | 0.9650 | 0.6544 | 0.9130 | ||
| LTD | |||||
| Artificial tear group | 19 | 10 | 36 | 0.43 | 10 |
| Acupuncture group | 17 | 9 | 41 | 0.80 | 12 |
| P value | 0.8412 | 0.0276 | 0.8975 | ||
| SSDE | |||||
| Artificial tear group | 18 | 9 | 49 | 0.00 | 32 |
| Acupuncture group | 18 | 9 | 44 | 0.29 | 30 |
| P value | 0.7651 | 0.0385 | 0.9140 | ||
| Non-SSDE | |||||
| Artificial tear group | 65 | 33 | 47 | 0.65 | 13 |
| Acupuncture group | 51 | 26 | 46 | 0.73 | 16 |
| P value | 0.9365 | 0.6801 | 0.7732 |
LTD = lipid tear deficiency; SSDE = Sjögren syndrome dry eye; Non-SSDE = non-Sjögren syndrome dry eye. P values (<0.05) indicate the statistically significant differences between the acupuncture and artificial tear group. †Four patients (2 in the acupuncture group and 2 in the control group) were enrolled with only one eye for the reason that one of their eyes had been lost because of eye trauma.