title: One-minute schirmer test with anesthesia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The 5-minute Schirmer test is a commonly described test for dry eye syndrome but is impractical for most ophthalmologists to perform routinely because of the 5-minute time frame. Hence, we decided to evaluate the intraindividual reliability of different wetting times of the Schirmer basal tear secretion test correlated to that of the standard 5-minute Schirmer test.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study was performed using 60 eyes of 30 patients. All patients had symptoms of dry eye syndrome. Patients were excluded if they had anatomic lid abnormalities that could interfere with the conduct of the test. The reliability of the Schirmer test at 30 seconds and 1, 2, 3, and 4 minutes was compared with that of the standard 5-minute test using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ICC for each eye was only moderate at 30 seconds but was high to extremely high thereafter. Specifically, at 1 minute, the ICC for right eyes was 0.938 and for left eyes was 0.817. Furthermore, 100% of patients with severe dry eye (defined as a 5-minute Schirmer test of 5.5 mm or less) had a 1-minute Schirmer test less than or equal to 2 mm. Also, 80% of patients with a moderate dry eye (defined as a 5-minute Schirmer test between 5.5 to 10 mm) had a 1-minute test between 3 to 6 mm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results support the hypothesis that shorter durations of the 5-minute Schirmer test correlate highly with those of the 5-minute test. Specifically, the 1-minute test correlates highly with the 5-minute test and will make this test much more practical for ophthalmologists.
authors.affiliation: University of Ottawa Eye Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Ahmed M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bawazeer
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Hodge
mesh_terms: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological / Q000592:standards; D015352:Dry Eye Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local