Abstract

Background

This study was performed to investigate the association between symptoms and signs in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).

Methods

Data were obtained from 122 MGD patients who were recruited for intense pulsed light therapy from November 2017 to April 2018 and the severity of their symptoms and signs at baseline were observed and recorded. Spearman correlation analyses were performed to analyze the relationships between SPEED score and signs. Subjects were divided into different subgroups based on possible influencing factors, and the differences in symptoms and signs were compared between different subgroups. Then influencing factors were controlled by regression analysis to explore the relationship between symptoms and signs and the strong factors affecting symptoms and signs.

Results

Analysis of baseline data showed that SPEED scores were not correlated with TBUT, CFSS, MGYSS or any index of eyelid margin abnormality (p > 0.05). In addition, abnormalities of lid margins, including hyperemia, thickening, rounding, hyperkeratinization, and telangiectasia around orifices, were more likely to occur in older patients, menopausal patients, and patients living in northern China. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that there was still no correlation between symptoms and signs (p > 0.05) after adjusting for influencing factors. Further analysis suggested that each influencing factor has different effects on symptoms and signs, among which menopause affects the SPEED score (R = -4.112, p = 0.025), and age and region have significant effects on eyelid margin abnormalities.

Conclusions

In conclusion, the results demonstrated a poor correlation between symptoms and signs in MGD patients. Age, hormone, and a dry environment may influence the disease, which suggests that the severity of the disease needs to be comprehensively assessed.

Details

Title
The lack of correlation between symptoms and signs in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction: a secondary analysis of the multicenter, randomized controlled trial
Author
Xie, Luoying; Chen, Shudi; Hong, Jing; Jin, Xiuming; Chen, Wei; Rong, Bei; Feng, Yun; Huang, Xiaodan; Li, Jinyang; Song, Wenjing; Lin, Lin; Cheng, Yu; Yan, Xiaoming
Pages
1-8
Section
Research
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
e-ISSN
14712415
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2715338834
Copyright
© 2022. This work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.