Table 1.
Demographics, co-morbidities, and DE metrics in the study sample by clusters
| DE symptoms, High Ocular Pain* (N=49) |
DE symptoms, Low Ocular Pain* (N=104) |
No DE Symptoms (N=34) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Demograhics | |||
| Age, mean (SD) | 61 (10) | 63 (9) | 63 (11) |
| Gender, male, n (%) | 44 (90%) | 97 (93%) | 32 (94%) |
| Race, white, n (%) | 24 (49%) | 53 (51%) | 20 (59%) |
| Ethnicity, Hispanic, n (%) | 14 (29%) | 34 (33%) | 6 (18%) |
| Co-morbidities | |||
| Hypertension, n (%) | 38 (78%) | 76 (73%) | 28 (82%) |
| Hypercholesterolemia, n (%) | 29 (59%) | 63 (61%) | 23 (68%) |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 8 (16%)b | 38 (37%) | 6 (18%)b |
| Sleep apnea, n (%) | 13 (27%) | 24 (23%) | 4 (12%) |
| BPH, n (%) | 9 (18%) | 19 (18%) | 4 (12%) |
| Charlson comorbidity index, mean (SD) |
1.22 (1.36) | 1.43 (1.37) | 1.01 (1.29) |
| Mental health, mean (SD) | |||
| Depression (PHQ9),(range 0–27) | 12.8 (7.9)a,b | 8.8 (7.1)a | 4.3 (7.2) |
| PTSD, (range 17–85) | 51.0 (21.7)a,b | 38.1 (17.0)a | 27.1 (14.4) |
| Anxiety (SCL-90), (range 0–4) | 1.4 (1.3)a,b | 0.66 (0.92) | 0.38 (0.82) |
| Medications | |||
| Anxiolytic, n (%) | 28 (57%)a,b | 39 (38%)a | 6 (18%) |
| Antidepressant, n (%) | 27 (55%)a | 41 (39%)a | 5 (15%) |
| Anti-histamine, n (%) | 13 (27%) | 18 (17%) | 7 (21%) |
| Analgesics, n (%) | 40 (82%)a,b | 65 (63%)a | 12 (35%) |
| Ocular symptoms, mean (SD) | |||
| DEQ5 (range 0–22) | 15.2 (3.4)a,b | 11.6 (3.4)a | 2 (1.9) |
| OSDI (range 0–100) | 53.8 (23.4)a,b | 30.3 (21.2)a | 10.5 (13.6) |
| Ocular pain intensity, averaged over past week (NRS; range 0–10) |
6.0 (1.8)a,b | 2.7 (2.1)a | 0.44 (0.82) |
| Hot burning pain (range 0–10)† | 6.5 (2.4)a,b | 1.8 (2.2)a | 0.15 (0.56) |
| Sensitivity to wind (range 0–10)† | 7.0 (2.3)a,b | 0.97 (1.3)a | 0.15 (0.56) |
| Sensitivity to light (range 0–10)† | 6.7 (2.9)a,b | 1.8 (2.1)a | 0.27 (0.99) |
| Ocular Surface Exam, mean (SD)** | |||
| Tear osmolarity, mOsm/L | 311 (21) | 304 (14) | 307 (17) |
| Tear film breakup time, seconds | 9.5 (4.0) | 9.7 (4.1) | 10.3 (5.5) |
| Corneal staining, (0–15) | 1.2 (1.8) | 2.0 (2.4) | 1.6 (2.0) |
| Schirmer’s test, mm of moisture | 13.8 (7.0) | 12.4 (6.8) | 14.6 (8.8) |
| Eyelid vascularity, (0–3) | 0.63 (0.70) | 0.64 (0.77) | 0.59 (0.74) |
| Meibum quality, (0–4) | 1.9 (1.3) | 2.0 (1.3) | 1.6 (1.2) |
SD=standard deviation; n=number in each group; BPH=benign prostatic hypertrophy; NRS=numerical rating scale for eye pain
*
Symptoms of DE defined as DEQ5≥6; Ocular pain status defined by cluster analysis
†
Questions from neuropathic pain symptom inventory, modified for the eye7
**
Signs from more severely affected eye
a
Significantly different (p<0.05) from no DE symptom group
b
Significantly different (p<0.05) from Low Ocular Pain group