Purpose Dry eye disease (DED) is an ocular disease that affects 5% to 17% of the US population. Because of the negative effects of DED on patients’ quality of life (QOL), disease-specific questionnaires that assess QOL in patients with dry eyes are essential in the monitoring and management of this chronic ocular condition. This review provides clinicians and researchers with a summary of the current questionnaires available for assessing QOL in patients with dry eyes. Methods A systematic review of the literature was performed in March 2013. Results There are only 2 validated, reliable dry eye questionnaires with QOL measures currently available for clinic use: the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and the Impact of Dry Eye on Everyday Life questionnaire (IDEEL). Multiple other dry eye questionnaires assess some degree of QOL, but they have either not been tested for validity and reliability or are limited in QOL measures they assess. Conclusions The OSDI and IDEEL are validated, reliable disease-specific questionnaires that assess QOL measures in patients with DED. Because of its extensive development process and multiple QOL measures, the IDEEL offers a more thorough assessment of the effect of DED on QOL for clinical trials, whereas the OSDI may be the more convenient option for clinical use as a result of its shorter completion time. Other questionnaires used to assess QOL in DED (eg, 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire and Texas Eye Research and Technology Center DEQ) are fairly limited in this assessment. Finally, because of the negative effects of DED on QOL, this review emphasizes the importance of including QOL measures in future questionnaires for the monitoring and management of DED.

Objective To assess the perceptions of eye care providers regarding the clinical management of dry eye. Methods Invitations to complete a 17-question online survey were mailed to 400 members of the North Carolina Ophthalmology and Optometry Associations including community optometrists, comprehensive ophthalmologists, and cornea specialists. Results The survey was completed by 100 eye care providers (25% response rate). Providers reported burning (46.5%) as the most frequent symptom described by patients, followed by foreign body sensation (30.3%) and tearing (17.2%). Most respondents (80.8%) listed artificial tears as the recommended first-line treatment, even though providers reported high failure rates for both artificial tears and cyclosporine A (Restasis). Rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren syndrome, affective disorders such as anxiety and depression, history of photorefractive surgery, smoking, and thyroid disease were acknowledged as common comorbid conditions. Conclusions The survey provided an informative snapshot into the preferences of eye care providers concerning the diagnosis and management of dry eye disease. Overall, burning was the most common symptom reported by patients. Providers relied more on patient history in guiding their clinical decisions than objective signs. The survey underscores the incongruence when comparing subjective symptoms with objective signs, thereby highlighting the urgent need for the development of reliable metrics to better quantify dry eye symptoms and also the development of a more sensitive and specific test that can be used as the gold standard to diagnose dry eye.