Abstract
Purpose :
To quantify discomfort over time of various eyelid hygiene products intended for ocular Demodex treatment.
Methods :
This was a prospective randomized crossover open label study that enrolled 26 healthy participants. The test products used in this study were OCuSOFT Plus (OP), NovaBay Avenova (NA), OCuSOFT OUST Demodex Swabstix (ODS), Bio-Tissue Cliradex (CD), TheraTears TheraLid (TT), and Bausch+Lomb Sensitive Eyes Plus Saline was used as control. Participants were asked to close their eyes as the product was gently rubbed (10 cycles of gentle nasal to temporal rubbing) into the eyelid margins. Subjective discomfort was rated on a scale of 0 to 10 (0=no discomfort, 10=maximal discomfort). Discomfort ratings were obtained prior to product application, every 15 seconds after product application for 5 minutes, and then every 30 seconds for another 5 minutes, for a total duration of 10 minutes. Order of product use was randomized, and time between each product use (washout) was no less than 48 hours.
Results :
Twenty five participants (mean age=26±6yrs, 11M) completed the study. There was no significant difference in discomfort between all products at pre-application. The discomfort of both NA and OP were not significantly different than saline (p>0.05) at all time points. Discomfort (mean±SD) of CD was significantly different than saline (p<0.05) between 0 and 180s inclusive, peaking at 45s (discomfort=4.0±2.8). Discomfort of TT was significantly different than saline (p<0.05) between 15s and 135s inclusive, peaking at 90s (discomfort=1.3±1.6). Discomfort of ODS increased steadily and became significantly different than saline (p<0.05) at 30s, peaking at 300s (discomfort=5.6±3.1), and remained elevated until the product was cleaned off the eyelids at 600s. A summary of discomfort experienced over time is presented in Figure 1.
Conclusions :
Of the products available for ocular Demodex treatment, ODS, TT, and CD all induced significant levels of discomfort. The results from this study may help practitioners better educate their patients about potential discomfort that may arise from using certain products intended for ocular Demodex management.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.