The relationship between subthreshold anxiety disorder and symptoms and signs of dry eye disease

To determine the relationship between subthreshold anxiety disorder and dry eye disease (DED) symptoms and signs. This was a cross-sectional study. The 127 outpatients of DED were collected and assessed for related symptoms and signs via the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), strip meniscometry (SM), non-invasive breakup time (NIBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), total corneal fluorescein staining (tCFS), and meibomian gland function (MGD) score. Subthreshold and full-blown anxiety disorders were evaluated via the HADS-A questionnaire and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I). The OSDI were markedly higher in patients with subthreshold anxiety relative to mental healthy patients (p = 0.029); however, these scores were lower than in the full-blown anxiety patients (p = 0.016). TMH and SM were substantially lower than those in the mental healthy patients (p = 0.002, p = 0.004, respectively) but higher than the full-blown anxiety cohort (p = 0.026, p = 0.029, respectively). HADS-A scores in the subthreshold, full-blown indicated a significant positive correlation with OSDI (r = 0.786, p < 0.001; r = 0.787, p < 0.001; respectively). Significant correlations were found between subthreshold anxiety disorder and DED symptoms and signs; however, its intensity is lower than full-blown anxiety disorders.