Table 1.

TBUT, Schirmer test, OSDI score and frequency of use of lubricant eye drops among the three groups at each follow-up visit

	Group A (control)	Group B (BTA)	Group C (plugs)	F/Kruskal–Wallis	P value
2 weeks
TBUT	4.95 ± 1.49 s	7.12 ± 1.33 s	6.87 ± 1.76 s	11.935	<0.0001
Schirmer test	4.64 ± 2.11 mm	8.4 ± 4.37 mm	7.63 ± 3.15 mm	7.07	0.002
	4.32 (1.98–8.3)	8.9 (3.1–16.7)	7.42 (3.1–14.2)
OSDI score	25.29 ± 11.8	12.33 ± 8.59	15.65 ± 10.4	12.273	<0.0001
	24 (7.4–46.8)	11.8 (2.2–28.7)	16 (4.3–35.8)	4.530
Number of times of lubricants use/day	8.22 ± 2.19	5.71 ± 3.10	6.28 ± 2.92		0.015
	8 (4–13)	5 (1–10)	6 (2–11)
6 weeks
TBUT	4.94 ± 1.23 s	7.01 ± 1.61 s	6.92 ± 2.27 s	6.974	0.002
				6.551
Schirmer test	5.14 ± 1.91 mm	8.4 ± 4.37 mm	8.87 ± 3.88 mm		0.003
	5 (2–8)	8 (3–16)	9 (3–15)
OSDI score	24.11 ± 9.33	11.57 ± 7.83	13.98 ± 8.72	11.840	<0.0001
	24 (4–41)	12 (2–33)	14.5 (3–38)	3.939
Number of times of lubricants use/day	6.36 ± 2.47	4.57 ± 2.16	4.11 ± 3.28		0.025
	6 (2–12)	5 (1–10)	4 (1–9)
3 months
TBUT	8.17 ± 2.02 s	8.77 ± 1.42 s	9.33 ± 2.39 s	1.710	0.190
Schirmer test	9.77 ± 1.63 mm	10.48 ± 3.86 mm	10.4 ± 3.66 mm	0.231	0.794
OSDI score	15.18 ± 5.63	11.22 ± 4.98	12.42 ± 8.31	1.970	0.149
	15 (6–25)	11 (3–19)	13 (4–23)	0.717	0.493
Number of times of lubricants use/day	3.52 ± 2.15	2.59 ± 2.83	2.93 ± 2.43
	4 (1–8)	2 (1–6)	3 (1–7)
6 months
TBUT	8.98 ± 2.23 s	8.90 ± 2.01 s	9.05 ± 1.76 s	0.028	0.972
Schirmer test	10.24 ± 1.91 mm	11.02 ± 3.37 mm	11.04 ± 3.56 mm	0.353	0.704
OSDI score	12.74 ± 4.16	11.12 ± 3.26	11.81 ± 3.20	0.601	0.552
Number of times of lubricants use/day	2.41 ± 1.62	1.92 ± 2.20	1.76 ± 2.32	0.536
	2 (1–6)	1 (1–5)	1 (1–5)		0.588