PROMs and correlation with clinical parameters in ocular cGvHD

Results from a prospective cross-sectional study, evaluating patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and their correlation with clinical parameters in patients with (n = 34) or without (n = 34) ocular chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD), were published in The Ocular Surface by Milek et al. Clinical ophthalmological parameters were assessed, and the following PROMs were used: Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25), Syndrome Assessment in Dry Eye Questionnaire (SANDE), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 7 (GAD-7). The primary endpoint was OSDI score.

Key data: The OSDI score was higher in patients with vs without ocular cGvHD (52.36 vs 13.92; difference in means, 38.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 28.72–48.16; p < 0.001). NEI-VFQ-25 scores were lower in patients with ocular cGvHD (65.45 vs 89.51; difference, 24.06; 95% CI, 16.73–31.39), while SANDE 1 scores (79.44 vs 23.24; difference, 56.20; 95% CI, 44.67–67.73) and SANDE 2 scores were higher (75.68 vs 18.18; difference, 57.50; 95% CI, 46.71–68.29) (all p < 0.001). PROMs were highly intercorrelated, including OSDI with SANDE 1 and SANDE 2 scores (ρ, 0.692 and 0.732, respectively; both p < 0.001), but no meaningful correlations with single clinical parameters were observed.

Key learning: This study supports the importance of PROMs in patients with ocular cGvHD. The totality of all ophthalmological clinical features is the main predictor for quality of life (QoL) impairment, whereas single distinct parameters appear to have no significant effect.