Patients' Perspectives on Their Dry Eye Disease

Purpose: Although it has been known that patients' perspectives on their disease can significantly affect their level of functional disability as well as disease outcome, limited data are available on patients' perceptions of their dry eye disease (DED). The aim of this questionnaire-based study was to evaluate patients' perspectives on their DED. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 91 patients with DED. In addition to clinical evaluation, all patients completed a questionnaire to evaluate their perspectives on their DED. This included their satisfaction with understanding DED, their opinion on the easiness of following doctors' advice, their opinion on the effectiveness of the treatment, their satisfaction with the eye care, and their general outlook on DED. Results: This study included 75 (82%) women and 16 men (18%) with a mean age of 57 +/- 14 years who had been treated for DED for 5.2 +/- 5.4 years. 93% of the patients were satisfied with their understanding of DED, and 76% found it easy to follow their doctors' advice for DED management. Furthermore, 95% thought that the DED treatment had been helpful and 95% were satisfied with their eye care for DED. Forty-eight percent expressed optimism regarding the long-term prospects of their DED. Conclusions: Although the majority of DED patients have positive perspectives on their disease, close to half report a lack of optimism regarding the long-term outlook for their condition.