TABLE 3.

Dry eye disease characteristics of participants at baseline and 3-month follow-up.

Group	Combined (Young + older adults)		Young adults		Older adults
	(n = 12)	(n = 12)	(n = 6)	(n = 6)	(n = 6)	(n = 6)
Time point	Baseline	3-month	Baseline	3-month	Baseline	3-month
Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) scores
Treatment	60.5 ± 6.13	49.2 ± 11.0	61.2 ± 7.14	50.4 ± 9.81	59.9 ± 5.53	48.0 ± 12.84
Control	64.1 ± 6.79	63.1 ± 5.39	64.2 ± 8.54	61.5 ± 6.09	64.0 ± 5.34	64.8 ± 4.50
Non-invasive tear break-up time (NITBUT) (s)
Treatment	3.9 ± 0.88	5.4 ± 1.32	3.3 ± 0.63	4.9 ± 1.27	4.6 ± 0.61	5.8 ± 1.30
Control	3.5 ± 0.81	3.7 ± 0.79	2.9 ± 0.58	3.1 ± 0.58	4.0 ± 0.61	4.3 ± 0.44
Phenol red thread test (PRT) (mm)
Treatment	10.8 ± 2.62	15.8 ± 2.63	11.6 ± 3.46	14.2 ± 1.83	10.1 ± 1.36	17.3 ± 2.42
Control	9.5 ± 1.90	10.2 ± 1.70	9.9 ± 2.13	10.3 ± 1.86	9.2 ± 1.75	10.0 ± 1.67
Percentage of meibomian gland openings (%)
Treatment	44.7 ± 9.56	55.4 ± 6.52	41.1 ± 8.72	54.2 ± 6.43	48.2 ± 9.02	56.7 ± 6.38
Control	47.2 ± 7.17	52.0 ± 9.37	43.3 ± 5.85	52.0 ± 9.04	51.1 ± 6.19	52.0 ± 9.68

All data were presented as mean ± standard deviation. OSDI scores >33 were considered severe dry eyes. NITBUT < 5s and PRT < 10 mm were considered dry values. There were approximately 75 meibomian glands in an eye. An increase in percentage of meibomian gland openings indicated an improvement.