Understanding Ocular Discomfort and Dryness Using the Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Ocular Surface Disease
• Pain Perception

Background:

• Ocular discomfort and dryness are common complaints, particularly among contact lens wearers.
• Subjective symptom assessment is critical but can be influenced by individual pain sensitivity.
• The Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire (PSQ) offers a standardized measure of pain sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the relationship between pain sensitivity, measured by the PSQ, and subjective experiences of ocular discomfort and dryness.
• To determine if pain sensitivity influences the perception of symptoms assessed by the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and Visual Analog Scales (VAS).

Main Methods:

• 153 subjects completed questionnaires including the PSQ, OSDI, and VAS for comfort and dryness.
• Subjects wore soft contact lenses (CL) contralaterally (one inverted, one normal) to induce inter-eye differences.
• Comfort and dryness were rated on VAS every 5 minutes during CL wear; ocular surface health was assessed via slit lamp examination.

Main Results:

• Higher PSQ scores correlated significantly with higher OSDI scores (p=0.002) and greater end-of-day dryness (p=0.04).
• Increased pain sensitivity was associated with lower average comfort (p=0.005) and end-of-day comfort (p=0.001).
• Higher PSQ scores significantly predicted greater inter-eye differences in comfort (p=0.013) and dryness (p=0.010) during CL wear.

Conclusions:

• Pain sensitivity is a significant factor influencing the perception of ocular discomfort and dryness.
• Clinicians should consider individual pain sensitivity when assessing subjective ocular symptoms.
• This highlights the importance of incorporating pain sensitivity measures in the evaluation of ocular surface disease and contact lens-related symptoms.