Evaluation of Eye-Pain Severity between Dry-Eye Subtypes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess eye pain between dry eye (DE) subtypes using questionnaires and the PainVision® (Osachi) apparatus. This study involved 52 eyes of 52 DE patients with eye pain (43 females and 9 males; mean age: 64.2 ± 13.2 (mean ± SD) years) who were classified into three DE subtypes (aqueous deficient DE (ADDE); decreased wettability DE (DWDE); and increased evaporation DE (IEDE)) based on fluorescein breakup pattern. In all subjects, severity of eye pain was evaluated using PainVision®, the DE-symptom-questionnaire visual analog scale (DSQ-VAS), and the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire 2 (SF-MPQ-2). The severity of eye pain was compared between the three DE subtypes. PainVision® findings revealed greater severity of eye pain in ADDE and DWDE than in IEDE (p p ® was found useful for the objective assessment of eye pain.

Keywords

• breakup pattern
• dry eye
• eye pain
• eye fatigue
• heavy eyelids
• pain quantitative measuring device