Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate dry eye patient preference for Refresh Tears [0.5% Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)] versus Systane [Propylene Glycol 0.3%/Polyethylene Glycol 0.4% (PG)] based on comfort and tolerability.
Methods: :
Randomized, double–masked, paired–eye, 1–week clinical trial. Patients (n=55) with a history of dry eye but no prior treatment (except for artificial tear solutions) were randomized to receive either CMC or PG in each eye. The patients instilled their drops and waited 5 minutes before answering a patient questionnaire. Patients continued to instill the masked study medications into the assigned eye for one week and returned for a 1 week follow–up visit.
Results: :
Patients reported less blurring with CMC than with PG. At baseline, 55% of patients reported no blurring in the CMC eye, compared with 42% of PG eyes (P=.182). Among patients who reported a difference between drops, 64% of patients found PG to be more blurring, compared with 36% with CMC after 1 week of treatment (P=.027). Patients also reported less stickiness with CMC than with PG. At baseline, 47% of patients reported no stickiness in the CMC eye, compared with 33% of PG eyes (P=.119). At week 1, 58% of CMC eyes had no stickiness, compared with 31% of PG eyes (P=.005). Among patients reporting a difference, significantly more patients (73%) thought CMC was more soothing than PG (53% of all patients, including those who did not notice a difference between drops) (P<.001). After 1 week, 53% of all patients expressed a preference for CMC (67% of patients who noticed a difference), P=.001.
Conclusions: :
Immediately upon instillation at baseline, patients found CMC to be more soothing and less sticky or blurring than PG and these initial preferences reached statistical significance after 1 week. Overall, patients preferred CMC to PG.
Keywords: cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye • quality of life