Impairment of Reading Ability in Dry Eye Patients

Johns Hopkins University200 enrolled

Overview

To assess the reading function impairment in patients with dry eye and to assess the effects of reading on the ocular surface.

This study is being done to understand how reading is affected in people with dry eye in comparison with healthy controls and what effect reading has on the ocular surface in patients with dry eye.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

200

Conditions

Dry Eye Syndromes

Interventions

30 minutes sustained readingOTHER

The participants will be given a text to read silently in 30 minutes.

Dry eye examOTHER

Tear break-up time, tear collection, osmolarity, Schirmer test, corneal and conjunctival staining.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 50 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * age of 50 or greater, * literacy in English language, * ability to give informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * binocular vision below 20/25, * any ocular surgery within the last 3 months, * mental issues, * illiteracy, * language problems which might possibly interfere with reading ability, * history of taking or current use of topical prescription anti-inflammatory eye drops (including, cyclosporine and steroids as well as any glaucoma eye drops).

Locations (1)

The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Sustained Silent Reading Speed

Time frame: 30 minutes

Secondary Outcomes

Change in Total Ocular Staining Score (OSS)

Ocular staining score (OSS) is sum of the corneal and conjuctival staining scores with a total possible maximum score of 12 for each eye. Corneal staining is graded with a maximum possible fluorescein score of 6 for each cornea (the punctate epithelial erosions grade between 0-3 plus any extra points for modifiers up to 3). Nasal and temporal conjunctiva are graded separately with a score range between 0 and 3 for each area after instillation of lissamine green. An abnormal OSS is defined as being a total score of 3 or more.

Time frame: Before and after 30 minutes reading

Change in Tear Osmolarity

Time frame: Before and after 30 minutes reading

Change in Visual Acuity

Time frame: 30 minutes

Cytokines

Identification of various inflammatory cytokines in tear film of dry eye patients comparing to controls.

Time frame: Tear samples were collected on the day of the exam. The samples were frozen to be assayed upon completion of the study.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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