THE BELGIAN OPHTHALMIC ASSOCIATIONS
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| Title | FAST® questionnaire: a short and effective tool to assess OSD in glaucoma patients |
| Purpose | Ocular Surface Disease (OSD) remains an underrecognized condition in glaucoma patients. It is well known that OSD may compromise the tolerability for and compliance with topical therapy. Therefore, identification of OSD is important. The FAST (Fast Assessment of ocular Surface Trouble) questionnaire has been developed to facilitate OSD diagnosis. |
| Methods | A survey in 6 European countries (BE, FR, IT, PL, SP, UK) has been implemented to evaluate the FAST questionnaire. It includes 14 short questions to collect risk factors, symptoms and ocular signs of OSD. Both data from the patient interview and from the clinical examination are collected. |
| Results | 1278 patients were recruited, of which 185 Belgian patients. The Belgian results are presented for the first time. 60.5% were using at least one preserved glaucoma treatment. At least one risk factor for OSD was observed in 57.3% of patients. 54.5% of patients were taking two or more preserved glaucoma drops per day. 99.5% reported ocular symptoms, including dry eye, itching/irritation and burning sensation, in 42.4%, 37.5% and 35.9% of patients, respectively. In 99.5% at least one ocular sign was reported: 56.5% of patients had conjunctival hyperemia; 29.4% and 21.2% presented with corneal and conjunctival fluorescein staining, respectively. Only 31.7% of patients had a tBUT superior to 10 seconds. |
| Conclusion | These results offer interesting insight into the prevalence of OSD in Belgium and also highlight the simplicity of this tool to report symptoms and clinical signs of OSD, rendering the FAST questionnaire a useful aid for ophthalmologists in daily practice. |
| Conflict of interest | Yes |
| Details of conflicting interests | consultant voor Théa Pharma |
Authors 1
| Last name | STALMANS |
| Initials | I |
| Department | UZ Leuven |
| City | Leuven |
Authors 2
| Last name | the Belgian FAST Study group |
Authors 3
| Last name | Baudouin |
| Initials | C |
| Department | Institut Quinze-Vingts |
| City | Parijs |