The Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) questionnaires showed moderate correlation but poor agreement in patients with dry eye disease, suggesting they should not be used interchangeably, according to a study. Both questionnaires also showed weak associations with objective clinical signs.
This retrospective chart review included 3337 adults evaluated at a tertiary dry eye clinic between 2019 and 2025. Ocular Surface Disease Index and SPEED scores were moderately correlated (ρ = 0.53; P < .001), but agreement was poor after rescaling, with a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.38.
Both questionnaires demonstrated high internal consistency (OSDI α = 0.89; SPEED α = 0.87). However, higher OSDI scores were associated with tear film homeostasis loss (P = 0.001), while SPEED scores were not (P = 0.86).
Researchers concluded that the questionnaires are not interchangeable and that assessing dry eye disease requires consideration of both patient-reported symptoms and objective clinical signs.
Reference
Abdel-Sayyed A, Alizada A, Al-Ani A, et al. Agreement and clinical alignment of the Ocular Surface Disease Index and Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness in a large dry eye clinic cohort. Can J Ophthalmol. 2026;S0008-4182(26)00378-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjo.2026.10.002. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42998674.
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