Association among Blink Rate, Changes in Ocular Surface Temperature, Tear Film Stability, and Functional Visual Acuity in Patients after Cataract Surgery

Table 2

Comparison of clinical parameters between the groups.

	Stable tear film (56 eyes)	Unstable tear film (42 eyes)	value
Area	0.2 ± 0.5 (0.0–0.4)	0.3 ± 0.6 (0.1–0.5)	0.3529
Density	0.3 ± 0.7 (0.1–0.4)	0.3 ± 0.7 (0.1–0.6)	0.5560
NIBUT (seconds)	9.1 ± 1.6 (8.7–9.4)	3.0 ± 1.1 (2.6–3.5)	<0.0001
CDVA (log MAR)	−0.04 ± 0.06 (−0.06 to–0.03)	−0.02 ± 0.07 (−0.04 to–0.01)	0.1052
FVA (log MAR)	0.10 ± 0.12 (0.07 to 0.13)	0.11 ± 0.13 (0.07 to 0.14)	0.8179
VMR (%)	0.95 ± 0.04 (0.94 to 0.96)	0.95 ± 0.03 (0.94 to 0.96)	0.7175
Blink rate (frequency/minute)	4.9 ± 5.8 (3.1 to 6.6)	9.3 ± 7.5 (7.3 to 11.3)	0.0013
OST (°C)	34.41 ± 0.57 (34.26 to 34.56)	34.43 ± 0.57 (34.25 to 34.56)	0.8310
ΔOST (°C)	−0.27 ± 0.23 (−0.32 to–0.20)	−0.56 ± 0.23 (−0.63 to–0.49)	<0.0001

The data are expressed as the average ± deviation (95% confidence interval). Compared with the unstable tear film group, the NIBUT, ΔOST and blink rate differ significantly in the stable tear film group. log MAR: logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution; NIBUT: noninvasive tear breakup time; CDVA: corrected distance visual acuity; FVA: functional visual acuity; OST: ocular surface temperature; VMR: visual maintenance ratio; ΔOST: difference in OST from 0 to 10 seconds without blinking.