Although male conjunctival thresholds appeared higher than female thresholds in the lens wearers, this difference could be shown only with a reduced level of confidence (
P = 0.06;
Fig. 2B,
Table 2). Conjunctival threshold appeared lower in subjects with more years of experience in low
Dk/
t extended wear, but this difference could also be shown only with a reduced level of confidence (
P = 0.08). There was a significant interaction of sex on the change in conjunctival threshold over time in the lens wearers (
P = 0.04). However, the subsequent results of the analysis of conjunctival threshold in the lens-wearing group for males (
P = 0.14) and females (
P = 0.35) separately were comparable to those presented for all subjects examined together (
Fig. 2B). Age did not have a significant effect on conjunctival thresholds in the lens wearers (
P = 0.79). There was no significant interaction of age (
P = 0.21) or low
Dk/
t extended wear experience (
P = 0.22) on the change in conjunctival threshold over time in the lens-wearing group (
Table 2). The interaction between age and sex did not have a significant effect on conjunctival threshold (
P = 0.85), nor on the differences in conjunctival threshold over time (
P = 0.13), in the lens wearers.
In the nonwearers, male subjects had significantly higher conjunctival thresholds than those of female subjects (
P = 0.007;
Fig. 2B). Age (
R = 0.31,
P = 0.15), or the interaction between age and sex (
P = 0.66), did not have a significant effect on conjunctival thresholds in the nonwearers.