A prospective, multicenter, noninterventional study of Optive Plus registered in the treatment of patients with dry eye: the prolipid study

The aim was to evaluate the efficacy of Optive Plus registered , an artificial tear containing castor oil, in patients with dry eye, in a routine clinical setting. This was a prospective, noninterventional study of patients with dry eye who switched from a prior therapy or who were naive to treatment (n=1,209). Patients were issued Optive Plus registered artificial tears. Dry eye severity, tear break-up time (TBUT), Schirmer score, Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) score, and patient assessment of symptoms were recorded at baseline and at the follow-up visit (4 weeks after starting Optive Plus registered ). The cause of dry eye was determined to be aqueous deficiency, lipid deficiency, or a mixture of aqueous and lipid deficiency (in 19.5%, 20.1%, and 47.8%, respectively, of the total study population). The severity of dry eye decreased from baseline to the follow-up visit, showing a decrease of the more severe levels (2-4) and a concurrent increase in mild level (1) of the rating scale. Patients reported an improvement in dry eye symptoms over the duration of the study, specifically 74.2% (n=152), 85.4% (n=182), and 82.4% (n=417) of patients in the aqueous-deficient, lipid-deficient, and mixed-deficiency groups, respectively. TBUT was measured in 475 patients. Baseline measurements for mean and standard deviation were 9.0 plus or minus 3.5, 7.1 plus or minus 3.6, and 6.6 plus or minus 3.0 seconds for the aqueous-deficient, lipid-deficient, and mixed-deficiency groups, respectively. These increased to 10.5 plus or minus 3.5, 10.0 plus or minus 3.6, and 9.2 plus or minus 3.1 seconds at the final visit. Overall, 92.5% of all patients were satisfied with the use of Optive Plus registered , and 86% said they would purchase Optive Plus registered . Ten percent of patients reported adverse events, and 1.8% of all patients experienced treatment-related adverse events. Optive Plus registered was well tolerated and effective in reducing the signs and symptoms of all types of dry eye but is recommended for lipid-deficient dry eye patients.