TABLE 2.

Characteristics of the Azithromycin (AZM) and Control Groups Before and After Treatment for 2 Weeks

Characteristic	Group	Baseline		After Treatment
		Mean±SD	P for AZM vs. Control	Mean±SD	Mean Change±SE	P vs. Baseline	P for AZM vs. Control
SPEED score (0–28)	AZM	12.8±3.8	0.31	5.8±3.0	−7.0±1.1	<0.001b	0.018a
	Control	11.5±2.5		8.1±2.5	−3.4±0.3	<0.001b
LLT (nm)	AZM	59.4±26.3	0.34	71.0±23.5	21.3±2.6	0.028a	0.36
	Control	67.6±24.4		63.5±26.9	1.8±1.9	0.005a
NIBUT (s)	AZM	3.8±2.5	0.44	7.2±3.3	4.1±0.3	<0.001b	0.16
	Control	4.6±3.1		5.7±3.0	0.9±0.2	0.081
Lid plugging (0–3)	AZM	1.4±0.7	0.32	0.2±0.4	−1.7±0.1	<0.001b	<0.001b
	Control	1.7±0.7		1.0±0.6	−0.5±0.1	<0.001b
Lid vascularity (0–3)	AZM	1.9±0.9	0.56	0.4±0.5	−1.3±0.1	<0.001b	<0.001b
	Control	2.1±0.6		2.1±0.7	0.0±0.0	1.0
Tear osmolarity (mOsm/L)	AZM	331.1±17.4	0.21	309.1±18.8	−0.1±0.0	<0.001b	0.014a
	Control	320.7±25.4		326.4±15.4	0.0±0.0	0.76
TBUT (s)	AZM	3.8±2.5	0.23	6.0±2.8	3.3±0.4	0.001a	0.19
	Control	4.7±1.8		4.8±2.2	0.9±0.2	0.81
Fluo score (0–9)	AZM	1.4±1.5	0.31	0.8±1.4	−1.0±0.2	0.13	0.63
	Control	0.8±1.0		0.7±1.0	0.0±0.1	1.0
Meiboscore (0–6)	AZM	3.2±1.8	0.10	3.1±1.8	−0.3±0.1	1.0	0.10
	Control	4.2±1.5		4.1±1.4	0.0±0.0	0.50
Meibum grade (0–3)	AZM	1.4±0.7	0.15	0.4±0.5	−1.9±0.1	<0.001b	<0.001b
	Control	1.8±1.0		1.6±1.0	−0.6±0.1	0.16
Schirmer test value (mm)	AZM	6.5±7.6	0.22	6.3±6.4	0.3±0.8	0.99	0.30
	Control	12.4±11.7		10.6±10.3	1.4±0.5	0.076

P values were determined with the Mann–Whitney U test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

^aP<0.05.

^bP<0.001.

fluo score, corneal–conjunctival fluorescein staining score; LLT, lipid layer thickness; NIBUT, noninvasive break-up time of the tear film; SPEED, Standardized Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness; TBUT, fluorescein-based break-up time of the tear film.