Impact of ocular surface dryness on quality of life among users of custom ocular prostheses: A standard patient evaluation of eye dryness questionnaire-based evaluation.

Gupta S, Chahar S, Anand R.

research-articleOpen access

AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only

A cross-sectional study found that ocular surface dryness is common among custom ocular prosthesis users and that more severe dryness was independently associated with worse quality of life, including reduced comfort and social impact.

What was studied

A cross-sectional observational study of 60 adult users of custom ocular prostheses (worn for at least 6 months), using the Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) questionnaire to assess dryness severity and examining its relationship with patient-reported quality-of-life outcomes (comfort, cosmetic satisfaction, social impact) via multivariate regression adjusted for age, sex, and prosthesis duration.

Key findings

The mean SPEED score was 10.4 ± 4.2, with mild dryness in 20% of participants, moderate in 57%, and severe in 23%.
Increasing dryness severity was significantly associated with reduced comfort, lower appearance satisfaction, and greater interference with social activities; the exact p-values were not legible in the provided abstract text.
Higher SPEED scores were linked to more frequent prosthesis removal and increased use of lubricating eye drops, and multivariate regression showed moderate-to-severe dryness independently predicted poorer overall quality of life after adjustment for age, sex, and prosthesis duration.

Clinical relevance

The findings suggest ocular surface dryness is a common and clinically meaningful problem for custom ocular prosthesis wearers that substantially affects quality of life, which may be relevant to incorporating routine dryness symptom screening (such as with the SPEED questionnaire) into prosthesis follow-up care to enable earlier, targeted management.

Who should care

Ophthalmology

Limitations

This was a modest-sized (60 participants), single cross-sectional study without a comparison group, which limits understanding of how this dryness burden compares to prosthesis-free populations or tracks over time.

Most custom ocular prosthesis wearers experience at least moderate dryness symptoms, which significantly worsen comfort, cosmetic satisfaction, and quality of life as severity increases.

This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.

Abstract

Context

This study addresses the underexplored burden of ocular surface dryness in custom ocular prosthesis users and its impact on quality of life using a validated symptom assessment tool (Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness [SPEED]).

Aims

To investigate the extent to which ocular surface dryness influences quality of life (QoL) in individuals wearing custom-made ocular prostheses, using the SPEED questionnaire as a symptom assessment tool.

Settings and design

The study design involves a cross-sectional observational study.

Materials and methods

A cross-sectional observational study was conducted involving 60 adult users of custom ocular prostheses who had been wearing their prosthesis for at least 6 months. Participants completed the SPEED questionnaire, and dryness severity was categorized based on total scores. Patient-reported quality-of-life outcomes, including comfort during prosthesis wear, satisfaction with cosmetic appearance, and impact on social activities, were evaluated and analyzed in relation to dryness severity.

Statistical analysis used

Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 26).

Results

The mean SPEED score among participants was 10.4 ± 4.2, indicating a high prevalence of dryness-related symptoms. Mild dryness was identified in 20% of participants, while 57% and 23% experienced moderate and severe dryness, respectively. Increasing dryness severity was significantly associated with reduced comfort, lower appearance satisfaction, and greater interference with social activities. Higher SPEED scores were also linked to more frequent prosthesis removal and increased use of lubricating eye drops. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that moderate-to-severe dryness independently predicted poorer overall QoL after adjustment for age, sex, and duration of prosthesis use.

Conclusions

Ocular surface dryness is a common and clinically meaningful problem among users of custom ocular prostheses and has a substantial negative impact on multiple dimensions of quality of life. Routine symptom assessment using validated questionnaires such as SPEED may facilitate earlier identification and targeted management of dryness in this population.

DOI

10.4103/ojo.ojo_45_26

PMID

42516339

PMCID

PMC13404917

Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.

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