Effect of Refresh Plus^® preservative-free lubricant eyedrops on tear ferning patterns in dry eye and normal eye subjects

Figures & data

Table 1 Median OSDI scores and TMH, NITBUT, and TF test results in dry eye and normal eye subjects

Test	Median (interquartile range)
	Dry eye (n=30)	Normal eye (n=30)
OSDI score*	18.10 (9.90)	9.00 (10.21)
TMH (mm)	0.23 (0.08)	0.26 (0.07)
NITBUT (seconds)*	13.21 (2.29)	6.31 (4.30)
TF0 grade*	2.80 (1.05)	1.00 (0.50)
TF30 grade*	2.00 (2.10)	0.80 (0.50)
TF60 grade*	1.50 (1.80)	0.80 (0.50)
TF120 grade*	1.00 (2.00)	0.80 (0.80)
TF180 grade*	1.10 (1.70)	0.80 (0.50)

Notes: *P<0.05. TF0-180, TF scores obtained 0-180 minutes after application of eyedrops.

Abbreviations: OSDI, Ocular Surface Disease Index; NITBUT, noninvasive tearbreakup time; TF, tear ferning; TMH, tear meniscus height.

Figure 1 Tear ferning (TF) images obtained before and after application of eyedrops in the right eye of (A) a dry-eye subject and (B) a normal eye subject.

Notes: TF0-180, TF scores obtained 0-180 minutes after application of eyedrops.

Figure 2 Box plots for tear ferning (TF) test scores in (A) dry-eye subjects and (B) normal eye subjects.

Notes: TF0-180, TF scores obtained 0-180 minutes after application of eyedrops.

Table 2 Correlations between OSDI scores and TMH, NITBUT, and TF test results in subjects with dry eye — r (P-value)

Test	OSDI	TMH	NITBUT	TF0	TF30	TF60	TF120	TF180
OSDI	1	–0.222	–0.358	–0.193	–0.446	–0.542	–0.100	–0.043
	(—)	(0.392)	(0.158)	(0.459)	(0.073)	(0.025)	(0.703)	(0.870)
TMH	–0.222	1	–0.060	–0.032	–0.217	–0.094	0.020	–0.168
	(0.392)	(—)	(0.818)	(0.902)	(0.403)	(0.719)	(0.939)	(0.519)
NITBUT	–0.358	–0.060	1	0.166	0.449	0.302	0.296	0.086
	(0.158)	(0.818)	(—)	(0.525)	(0.070)	(0.239)	(0.248)	(0.744)
TF0	–0.193	–0.032	0.166	1	–0.085	0.484	0.560	0.726
	(0.459)	(0.902)	(0.525)	(—)	(0.744)	(0.049)	(0.019)	(0.001)
TF30	–0.446	–0.217	0.449	–0.085	1	0.159	–0.074	–0.160
	(0.073)	(0.403)	(0.070)	(0.744)	(—)	(0.542)	(0.777)	(0.538)
TF60	–0.542	0.094	0.302	0.484	0.159	1	0.503	0.449
	(0.025)	(0.719)	(0.239)	(0.049)	(0.542)	(—)	(0.040)	(0.070)
TF120	–0.100	0.020	0.296	0.560	–0.074	0.503	1	0.865
	(0.703)	(0.939)	(0.248)	(0.019)	(0.777)	(0.040)	(—)	(0.001)
TF180	–0.043	–0.168	0.086	0.0726	–0.160	0.449	0.865	1
	(0.870)	(0.519)	(0.744)	(0.001)	(0.538)	(0.070)	(0.001)	(—)

Notes: TF0-180, TF scores obtained 0-180 minutes after application of eyedrops.

Abbreviations: OSDI, Ocular Surface Disease Index; NITBUT, noninvasive tear breakup time; TF, tear ferning; TF30, TMH, tear meniscus height.

Table 3 Correlations between OSDI scores and TMH, NITBUT, and TF test results in normal eye subjects — r (P-value)

Test	OSDI	TMH	NITBUT	TF0	TF30	TF60	TF120	TF180
OSDI	1	–0.142	–0.233	–0.029	–0.134	0.083	0.107	–0.020
	(—)	(0.463)	(0.225)	(0.882)	(0.489)	(0.667)	(0.581)	(0.918)
TMH	–0.142	1	0.425	–0.036	–0.173	–0.003	–0.038	0.194
	(0.463)	(—)	(0.022)	(0.853)	(0.368)	(0.987)	(0.843)	(0.312)
NITBUT	–0.233	0.425	1	–0.075	0.094	0.104	–0.034	0.052
	(0.225)	(0.022)	(—)	(0.699)	(0.626)	(0.592)	(0.859)	(0.789)
TF0	–0.029	–0.036	–0.075	1	0.174	0.407	0.226	0.105
	(0.882)	(0.853)	(0.699)	(—)	(0.368)	(0.029)	(0.239)	(0.587)
TF30	–0.134	–0.173	0.094	0.174	1	0.320	–0.042	0.048
	(0.489)	(0.368)	(0.626)	(0.368)	(—)	(0.091)	(0.828)	(0.805)
TF60	0.083	–0.003	0.104	0.407	0.320	1	0.429	0.391
	(0.667)	(0.987)	(0.592)	(0.029)	(0.091)	(—)	(0.020)	(0.036)
TF120	0.107	–0.038	–0.034	0.226	–0.042	0.429	1	0.532
	(0.581)	(0.843)	(0.859)	(0.239)	(0.828)	(0.020)	(—)	(0.003)
TF180	–0.020	0.194	0.052	0.105	0.048	0.391	0.532	1
	(0.918)	(0.312)	(0.789)	(0.587)	(0.805)	(0.036)	(0.003)	(—)

Notes: TF0-180, TF scores obtained 0-180 minutes after application of eyedrops.

Abbreviations: OSDI, Ocular Surface Disease Index; NITBUT, noninvasive tear breakup time; TF, tear ferning; TF30, TMH, tear meniscus height.