Table 3.

Clinically assessed plugging of the central 5 meibomian glands of the lower lid and the morphological features in the middle 1/3 of the lower lid assessed by the reading center

Features in the lower lid middle third		None (n=44)	Mild (1–2 glands) (n=105)	Moderate (3–4 glands) (n=147)	Severe (all 5 glands) (n=172)	p-value
Total number	Mean (SD)	7.45 (1.42)	7.35 (1.62)	7.03 (2.07)	7.17 (1.96)	0.43
Distorted	Mean (SD)	1.90 (1.57)	1.38 (1.44)	1.53 (1.48)	1.66 (1.43)	0.19
Tortuous	Mean (SD)	0.09 (0.43)	0.05 (0.28)	0.09 (0.35)	0.04 (0.24)	0.45
Hooked	Mean (SD)	0.05 (0.30)	0.04 (0.28)	0.04 (0.25)	0.06 (0.27)	0.86
Short	Mean (SD)	1.47 (1.72)	1.42 (1.62)	1.78 (1.70)	1.75 (1.96)	0.31
Thick	Mean (SD)	0.06 (0.27)	0.05 (0.29)	0.01 (0.12)	0.02 (0.19)	0.51
Thin	Mean (SD)	0.14 (0.35)	0.06 (0.28)	0.06 (0.31)	0.06 (0.27)	0.56
Overlap	Mean (SD)	0.08 (0.30)	0.06 (0.23)	0.09 (0.29)	0.03 (0.21)	0.33
Ghost	Mean (SD)	0.66 (1.24)	0.24 (0.83)	0.61 (1.54)	0.61 (1.40)	0.009
Dropout	Mean (SD)	0.00 (0.00)	0.17 (0.45)	0.25 (0.71)	0.15 (0.48)	<0.001
Tadpoling	No	44 (10%)	105 (23%)	144 (31%)	170 (37%)	0.40
	Yes	0 (0%)	0(0%)	3 (60%)	2 (40%)
Gaps	No	44 (9%)	105 (23%)	146 (31%)	171 (37%)	0.81
	Yes	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (50%)	1 (50%)
No Lid margin extension	No	40 (9%)	102 (23%)	137 (31%)	163 (37%)	0.37
	Yes	4 (15%)	3 (12%)	10 (38%)	9 (35%)
Fluffy areas	No	44 (10%)	97 (22%)	136 (31%)	163 (37%)	0.26
	Yes	0 (0%)	8 (29%)	11 (39%)	9 (32%)
Severity composite score	Mean (SD)	18.60 (16.21)	15.97 (14.43)	22.74 (20.17)	21.23 (20.40)	0.02
Dropout including ghost glands and fluffy areas as dropped out*	Mean (SD)	28% (14%)	30% (14%)	35% (21%)	33% (21%)	0.06
Dropout excluding ghost glands and fluffy areas*	Mean (SD)	17% (13%)	17% (8%)	19% (13%)	20% (17%)	0.07

^*Missing values:1 in none,3 moderate