Developing evidence-based guidance for the treatment of dry eye disease with artificial tear supplements: A six-month multicentre, double-masked randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the six-month therapeutic profiles of lipid and non-lipid-based artificial tear supplements in managing dry eye disease (DED). Methods: Ninety-nine participants fulfilling the TFOS DEWS II diagnostic criteria for DED (64% females; mean ± SD age, 44 ± 16 years) were enrolled in a prospective, multicentre, double-masked, parallel group, randomised controlled trial. Participants instilled lipid-based nanoemulsion drops or non-lipid-based aqueous drops for six months, at least four times daily. Symptomology, tear film and ocular surface characteristics were assessed at Days 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180. Results: Sustained reductions in OSDI, DEQ-5, and SANDE symptom scores from baseline were observed from Day 30 onwards in both groups (all p < 0.05) and decreased superior lid wiper epitheliopathy grades from Day 60 onwards (all p ≤ 0.01). Improvements in non-invasive tear film breakup time, and sodium fluorescein and lissamine green staining scores followed from Day 120 onwards in both groups (all p < 0.05). Tear lipid layer grades increased from Day 90 onwards only with the lipid-based drops, and with significantly greater improvement in those with suboptimal lipid layer thickness at baseline (grade ≤3; p = 0.02). By Day 180, 19% of participants no longer fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for DED. Conclusions: Over a six-month treatment period, improvements in dry eye symptomology preceded tear film and ocular surface changes with regular use of both lipid and non-lipid-based artificial tear supplements. Both formulations addressed most mild-to-moderate forms of aqueous deficient and evaporative DED, while evaporative cases benefitted preferentially from lipid-based supplementation. This represents a first step towards mapping DED therapeutic strategies according to disease subtype and severity.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtos.2020.12.006
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Optometry
College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Optometry & Vision Science Research Group (OVSRG)
College of Health & Life Sciences
Additional Information: Copyright © 2021, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Uncontrolled Keywords: Aqueous deficiency,Artificial tear supplement,Dry eye disease,Evaporative dry eye,Lipomimetic,Meibomian gland dysfunction,Ophthalmology
Publication ISSN: 1937-5913
Last Modified: 19 Mar 2024 08:22
Date Deposited: 19 Jan 2021 11:09
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://www.sci ... 1865?via%3Dihub (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2021-04
Published Online Date: 2021-01-02
Accepted Date: 2020-12-27
Authors: Craig, Jennifer P
Muntz, Alex
Wang, Michael Tm
Luensmann, Doerte
Tan, Jacqueline
Huarte, Sonia Trave (ORCID Profile 0000-0001-5604-0042)
Xue, Ally L
Jones, Lyndon
Dp Willcox, Mark
Wolffsohn, James S (ORCID Profile 0000-0003-4673-8927)

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