Abstract
It is well established that the diagnosis of dry eye is difficult. Tear osmolarity is considered by some to be the only metric of dry eye that is repeatable with some claiming that osmolarity is the best diagnostic metric for dry eye. A recently developed system, the Tearlab osmolarity system, is now available that can give a measure of tear osmolarity in less than 60 seconds. It is important that any new instrument be evaluated for its repeatability and reproducibility. The aim of this study was to investigate the repeatability and reproducibility of the Tearlab system by taking multiple, successive measurements of osmolarity of a manufacturer supplied calibration/test solution. The results of this investigation show that the Tearlab osmolarity system provides reasonably accurate, repeatable and reproducible measurements of tear osmolarity. (S Afr Optom 2013 72(1) 19-24)
Highlights
Dry eye is defined as: “... a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance and tear film instability with potential damage to the ocular surface
Several studies have shown that dry eye disease is a common disorder and is prevalent in 0.39% to approximately 34% of the general population[3,4,5,6]
The coefficient of reproducibility (COR) is suggested as being the standard deviation of the differences between the pairs of measurements divided by the average of the mean difference of each pair of measurements[26]
Summary
Dry eye is defined as: “... a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance and tear film instability with potential damage to the ocular surface. A multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance and tear film instability with potential damage to the ocular surface. It is accompanied by increased osmolarity of the tear film and inflammation of the ocular surface”[1]. The diagnosis of dry eye is difficult. Khanal et al state: “Diagnosis of dry eye disease is made difficult by its multifactorial etiology, by the need for a comprehensive definition and by the use of tests that are limited and variable in their assessment of the tears and ocular surface”[11]
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