Post-Blink Blur Time—A Simple Test to Detect Dry Eye-Related Visual Disturbances

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 p 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 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 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.

Keywords

• post-blink blur time
• dry eye disease
• visual function
• diagnostic tests
• ocular surface
• tears