Relationships between Symptoms and Signs of Dry Eye Using Symptom Assessment in Dry Eye Questionnaires

Purpose: To investigate the pattern of Symptom Assessment in Dry Eye (SANDE) questionnaire symptom scores in dry eye disease (DED) patients and to assess the relationships with several dry eye signs. Methods: The medical records of 173 patients with DED were analyzed retrospectively. Each patient's SANDE score and history of autoimmune disease and ocular surgery were investigated, and Schirmer's test, tear film breakup time (TBUT), ocular surface staining score (OSS), tear osmolarity, and tear MMP-9 test were assessed. The distribution of SANDE scores and relationships between the SANDE score and various dry eye signs were analyzed. The relationships between the SANDE scores of TBUT (< 5 / >= 5) and OSS (< 3 / >= 3) subgroups were compared. Results: The average SANDE score was 52.6 +/- 28.1. The SANDE scores were significantly higher in OSS 3 than in OSS < 3 (79.1 +/- 21.6 vs. 51.1 +/- 27.6, p = 0.030), and TBUT >= 5 had marginally significantly lower SANDE scores than TBUT < 5 (47.2 +/- 25.6 vs. 55.6 +/- 29.0, p = 0.050). TBUT was significantly negatively (R = -0.151, p = 0.024) correlated with the SANDE score, while OSS was marginally significantly positively (R = 0.111, p = 0.073) correlated. As OSS increased, the SANDE scores tended to increase (p for trend = 0.008). Other dry eye signs were not associated with the SANDE score. Conclusions: The DED symptom score from the SANDE questionnaire was related to TBUT and OSS, but there was still a discrepancy between the symptoms and signs of DED.