Affiliation:
1. Department of Ophthalmology, Zagreb University Hospital Center, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
2. School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
3. Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Vuk Vrhovac University Clinic for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Merkur University Hospital, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Background: Dry eye disease (DED) stands out as one of the most common eye conditions encountered in clinical settings. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic ability and feasibility of post-blink blur time (PBBT) in detecting patients with DED symptoms. Methods: The study included 200 subjects, 100 with and 100 without DED symptoms defined by the Schein questionnaire, who underwent assessment of DED signs [visual acuity, PBBT, conjunctival hyperemia, lid-parallel conjunctival folds—LIPCOF, tear film break-up time—TBUT, fluorescein corneal staining, and meibum score]. Results: DED subjects had a lower PBBT than controls (p < 0.001), with subjective (6 (1–45) s vs. 8 (1–70) s) and objective (6 (2–33) s vs. 8 (2–50) s) PBBT measurements being similar between repeats. The correlations between subjective and objective PBBT measurements were significantly positive (R = 0.873, p < 0.001). Subjective PBBT was negatively related to the Schein questionnaire (R = −0.217, p = 0.002), conjunctival hyperemia (R = −0.105, p = 0.035), and corneal staining (R = −0.153, p = 0.031), while positively related to the TBUT (R = 0.382, p < 0.001) and meibum score (R = 0.106, p = 0.033). Logistic regression analysis showed DED symptoms were significantly associated with subjective PBBT (AOR 0.91, p = 0.001), TBUT (AOR 0.79, p < 0.001), meibum score (AOR 0.65, p = 0.008), LIPCOF (AOR 1.18, p = 0.002) and corneal staining (AOR 1.14, p = 0.028). Conclusions: Subjective self-reported PBBT is a reliable and non-invasive screening test for evaluating time-wise changes in visual acuity and detecting a tear film dysfunction.