Moira Mahoney , 2025-04-17 19:23:00
April 17, 2025
2 min read
Key takeaways:
- Treatment with ocular lubricants reduced Headache Impact Test scores in adults with migraine and dry eye disease.
- No significant difference in effect was observed between the two ocular lubricants.
Adults with dry eye disease and migraine who were treated with eye drops for ocular lubrication experienced significant reductions in migraine severity, according to a study published in Optometry and Vision Science.
“Migraine is known to be associated with variable comorbidities such as cardiovascular, psychiatric, neurologic and nonmigraine pain conditions, including dry eye disease,” Nur Amalina Md Isa, MOptom, a PhD candidate at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at UNSW Sydney, told Healio.
Data were derived from Md Isa NA, et al. Optom Vis Sci. 2025;doi:10.1097/OPX.0000000000002241.
Md Isa and colleagues hypothesized that treating dry eye and reducing neuroinflammation and stress stimulus to corneal nerves may reduce migraine severity. They performed a prospective, randomized, double-masked crossover trial to determine how treatment with ocular lubrication affected migraine severity in 24 adults (20 women; mean age, 47 ± 16 years) with dry eye disease and episodic (n = 21) or chronic (n = 3) migraine.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive either preservative-free Systane Hydration UD eye drops (Alcon) or saline eye drops (NeilMed) four times a day for 4 weeks. They then returned for assessment, underwent a 2-week washout period and began using the alternate drops for 4 weeks.
Md Isa and colleagues measured migraine severity with the Headache Impact Test 6 (HIT-6) and Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaires and evaluated dry eye disease with the Ocular Surface Disease Index, Dry Eye Questionnaire 5 (DEQ-5) and corneal staining.
“At baseline, most participants had severe disability impact due to their headache” (HIT-6 60 and MIDAS 21) and moderate dry eye severity (mean OSDI, 32 ± 18), according to the study.
Overall, results showed a significant decrease in HIT-6 score from baseline when using Systane Hydration UD (mean change, 3; P = .01) and saline (mean change, 3.9; P = .002), indicating ocular lubrication reduced the impact of migraine on daily life, with no significant difference between the two treatments. However, reductions in MIDAS after treatment did not reach statistical significance.
As expected, both drops also led to significant reductions in OSDI (Systane Hydration UD: mean change, 8.3, P = .004; saline: mean change, 6.4; P = .03), DEQ-5 (Systane Hydration UD: mean change, 2.1; P = .004; saline: mean change, 1.5; P = .03) and corneal staining (Systane Hydration UD: mean change, 2.2; P = .001; saline: mean change, 1.5; P = .005).
The researchers noted that the results may have limited generalizability to individuals with moderate and mild migraine.
“While we expected ocular surface lubrication to improve dry eye symptoms, we did not anticipate that it would also reduce the migraine disability — indicated by the HIT-6 score — by at least half of the accepted minimal clinically meaningful change for migraine treatment,” Md Isa told Healio.
“We believe clinicians, especially eye care providers, should provide personalized treatment for migraine patients with dry eyes to help ease the burdens of migraine and further improve patient overall well-being,” she added.
The research team plans to further investigate the potential link between dry eye disease and migraine by examining structural and biochemical changes at the ocular surface level.
For more information:
Nur Amalina Md Isa, MOptom, can be reached on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/amalinaisa/.
Sources/Disclosures
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Disclosures:
The study received funding from Alcon Laboratories Australia. The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.