AIM: To investigate the correlation between symptoms and sign of drug users with dry eye.

METHODS: Eighty-seven patients(87 eyes)with dry eye syndrome who were abstained from a compulsory rehabilitation center in Yangpu District of Shanghai from October 2017 to February 2018 were selected as test group. And 90 eyes of 90 patients with non-dry eye syndrome who were abstained from the same center during the same period were selected as control group. All subjects were selected for the right eye. All the patients were analyzed including dry eye questionnaire-5, ocular surface disease index(OSDI)questionnaire survey, symptoms, tear height test, break-up time test, sodium fluorescein staining test, tear osmotic pressure, Schirmer Ⅰ test and Meibomian gland function tests. Pearson and Spearman correlations were used to analyze the relationship between symptoms and signs of drug users with dry eye.

RESULTS: Both the DEQ-5 questionnaire and the OSDI questionnaire scores were negatively correlated with BUT values(r=-0.791, -0.849, P<0.01), and were also positively correlated with corneal fluorescein sodium staining(DEQ-5: r=0.652, P<0.01; OSDI: r=0.571, P<0.05). The scores of DEQ-5 questionnaire and OSDI questionnaire were not significantly correlated with tear height, tear osmotic pressure, Schirmer Ⅰ test, and Meibomian gland functional score. Fatigue, dryness, and visual acuity were the three most common symptoms(69.0%, 63.2%, 55.2%, respectively). The negative correlation was shown between photophobia and tear height(r=-0.218, P=0.023). Dryness, fatigue, pain/sting, visual acuity were also negatively correlated with BUT(r=-0.057,-0.197, -0.053, -0.068, P<0.05). The positive correlation was shown between dryness, fatigue, visual acuity and FL(r=0.169, 0.201, 0.226, P<0.05), tearing and tear osmotic pressure(r=0.315, P=0.013), dryness and Schiemer Ⅰ(r=0.324, P=0.043). Visual acuity was positively correlated with meibomian gland function(r=0.227, P=0.011). The difference in tear height, corneal fluorescein sodium staining, and tear osmotic pressure were statistically significant between dry eye patients and normal group(P<0.05). The differences in BUT, Schirmer Ⅰ test and meibomian gland function were not statistically significant(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: The clinical symptoms of dry eye in drug users are not obvious, and their correlation with the test results is poor. Clinicians should pay attention to the medical history inquiry, physical examination, and the refinement and individualization of diagnosis.