Abstract
Purpose :
Evaluate the effect of warming eyelids on tear film stability and quality of life (QoL) in video display terminal (VDT) users.
Methods :
Volunteers in one institution with ocular symptoms and tear film instability associated with VDT use was randomly allocated into the study group or the control group. Subjects in the study group used eyelid warming steamer (EWS) for 2 weeks compared to non-warming eye mask in the control group. Tear fluorescein breakup time (TBUT) after single and two-week EWS treatment, Schirmer I test, ocular surface staining score, meibomian gland function, severity of dry eye disease (DED) and QoL scores after two-week EWS treatment were collected into analysis.
Results :
Fifty-five subjects were enrolled and categorized into study group (n=22) or control group (n=23). The TBUT improved after both single and two-week EWS treatment (P= .023 and .027, respectively) in the study group. The ocular surface staining score was significantly decreased in the study group (P= .038) but not the control group. There was no change in the meibomian gland dropout score in both groups with marginal improvement of meibum expressibility score in the study group (P= .054). About 60% DED patients in the study group shifted towards non-DED and the pattern of distribution was significantly different compared to baseline (P< .001). The QoL scores significantly improved in the study group (P= .002) with a negative correlation with TBUT.
Conclusions :
In VDT users, eyelid warming steamer is effective in improving tear film stability and QoL.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.