Conjunctival impression cytology and dry eye symptoms

Aim: To evaluate the factors involved in dry eye and its correlations with the ocular symptoms referred by patients considering bulbar conjunctival impression cytology. Methods: This study involved 214 consecutive patients who arrived at a laboratory of ocular surface disease for conjunctival impression cytology. They voluntarily conducted a self-evaluation questionnaire of ocular symptoms and environmental factors. Results: The patients who referred a diagnosis of dry eye had more ocular symptoms of dryness, gritty eyes, burning and light sensitivity, while they had less watery eyes (p <0.05). In a logistic regression analysis, taking outdoor hours as a dependent variable and ocular symptoms as covariates, a positive association was found between outdoor hours and itching (B = 0.865, p = 0.018). No significant difference was found between patients with normal and altered bulbar conjunctival impression cytology in the amount of reported ocular symptoms. In addition, in a logistic regression analysis, no association was found between the result of the conjunctival impression cytology and the presence of any of the symptoms surveyed. Conclusion: None of the ocular symptoms referred by patients was pathognomonic of dry eye. Also, none of the ocular symptoms showed correlation with the objective study of the conjunctiva. Thus, bulbar conjunctival impression cytology aids in the diagnosis of dry eye.