Abstract
Purpose :
Continuous warming eye mask is reported to improve tear and meibomian gland function. In this double blind randomized controlled study, we analyzed the effect of warming eye mask on the ocular surface and quality of life.
Methods :
Ninety-seven participants who visited affiliated institutions, age range from 23 to 89 years, were enrolled in this study. Participants were divided into two groups using the sealed envelope method: warm group; warming eye mask as the intervention, control group; with non-warming eye mask as control. The warming eye mask generates approximately 40 oC of moist heat and it lasts about 10 minutes. The participants used warming eye mask or non-warming eye mask for 10 minutes once a day for 2 weeks. We analyzed eighty-five participants (warm group 41, control group 44) before and 2 weeks after intervention, including tear break up time (TBUT), and corneal and conjunctival fluorescein staining. We additionally evaluated subjective score using dry eye related quality of life score (DEQS), Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score (Anxiety: HADS-A, Depression: HADS-D). We used the right eye for the analysis and paired t test was performed evaluating change before and after intervention. All the analyses were performed using SPSS software V.25.0 (SPSS, Chicago, Illinois, USA) statistical package.
Results :
The participants were significantly older in the warm group compared with the control group (53.6±17.2 years vs 45.3±16.7 years, p=0.03). There were no sex differences among both groups: Men (warm group: 22%, control group: 18%, p=0.62). Change in variables before and after intervention were as follows: TBUT (warm group: 1.4±2.0 seconds, control group: 0.1±2.3 seconds), fluorescein score (warm group: -0.7±1.1, control group: -0.2±1.1), DEQS (warm group: -8.5±17.4, control group: -8.3±11.5), SF-MPQ (warm group: -0.5±1.9, control group: 0.1±1.4), HADS-A (warm group: -0.8±3.1, control group: -0.3±2.3), HADS-D (warm group: -1.0±2.4, control group: -0.5±1.9). Significant changes were seen in TBUT (warm group), fluorescein score (warm group), DEQS (both groups) and HADS-D (warm group).
Conclusions :
This double blind randomized controlled trial indicated that warming eye mask improved not only the ocular surface conditions, but also subjective depression score.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.