Measurement of ocular surface irritation on a linear interval scale with the ocular comfort index.
Johnson ME, Murphy PJ, IOVS, 2007 Oct;48(10):4451-8.Click here to read
PURPOSE: To examine the psychometric properties of the Ocular Comfort Index (OCI), a new instrument that measures ocular surface irritation designed with Rasch analysis to produce estimates on a linear interval scale.
....CONCLUSIONS: The OCI was shown to have favorable psychometric properties that make it suitable for assessing the impact of ocular surface disease on patient well-being and changes in severity brought about by disease progression or therapeutic strategies.
With more scientifically validated instruments emerging to measure how people with ocular surface disease feel... there is even less excuse for failing to employ them.
It's not hard. Your tech hands the patient a sheet of paper where they answer 12 simple questions. Slip it into their medical record. Repeat in six months. Not too painful now was it?
Some suggested times for doing it... And no, this is NOT a multiple-choice test.
1) Every time a dry eye patient comes in for a checkup.
2) Every 6 months for your glaucoma patients who are on BAK-preserved drops.
3) Every LASIK pre-operative exam.
4) The 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month LASIK follow-up exams - and not just for the patients who are actually complaining about discomfort. If you don't measure them all, you won't know. I'm generously assuming you might like to.
Dry eye PATIENTS - you can self-administer these tests. For those of you who are compulsively trying new therapies, consider undergoing the discipline of actually finding out whether they're working by limiting yourself to one at a time, and using one of these questionnaires before you start and 3 months later. Oh, and keep your copies, and ask the technician at your eye doctor's office to place it in your medical records.
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