The Optrex Dry Eye Blink Test is a simple, online self-assessment tool which provides patients and clinicians with a convenient and rapid preliminary screening instrument for dry eye disease, without the need for specialist instrumentation or the instillation of ocular dyes. The Blink Test measures the amount of time taken following two, non-forceful blinks for a patient to experience symptoms of ocular discomfort or dry eye.

A recently published diagnostic accuracy study, jointly conducted by the Aston University Ophthalmic Research Group and the University of Auckland Ocular Surface Laboratory, evaluated the discriminative ability of the Blink Test in detecting patients with dry eye disease, as defined by the global consensus TFOS DEWS II diagnostic criteria.

A total of 87 participants were recruited and the study results demonstrated that the Blink Test values were significantly correlated with tear film stability, dry eye symptomology scores, conjunctival staining and lid wiper epitheliopathy. At the optimal diagnostic cut off of <10 seconds, the Blink Test demonstrated a sensitivity of 66% and a specificity of 88% in detecting a diagnosis of dry eye disease. Combining the test with dry eye screening questionnaires, the diagnostic accuracy values of the Blink Test increased to a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 90%.

Reference

Wolffsohn JS, Craig JP, Vidal-Rohr M, Huarte ST, Ah Kit L, Wang MT. Blink Test enhances ability to screen for dry eye disease. Contact Lens Anterior Eye. doi: 10.1016/j.clae.2018.06.003. 2018 Jun 26.

Professor James Wolffsohn, Maria Vidal-Roht and Sonia Trave-Huarte are from Aston University, Birmingham, England; Associate Professor Jennifer Craig, Lexia Ah-Kit and Dr Michael Wang are from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.