Study for Remote Investigation of Evaporative Dry Eye Disease

NCT ID: NCT06976515

Last Updated: 2025-10-09

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Total Enrollment

90 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-09-01

Study Completion Date

2027-07-01

Brief Summary

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Dry eye disease is a common problem that can make your eyes feel uncomfortable and affect your vision, making daily tasks harder. Many past studies on dry eye treatments haven't worked well because they didn't include enough people or different types of people. Doing studies at home instead of at the doctor's office can help more people join and make it easier to find out which treatments really work.

Detailed Description

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This is a feasibility study, this is not an interventional study. This proposal outlines a novel approach to the study of dry eye disease through a decentralized clinical trial design. This non-interventional planning and feasibility proposal shifts the focus of dry eye disease study away from doctors' offices and into participants' home environments. Subjective dry eye disease symptoms are collected remotely, electronically, and sequentially. Self-collected ocular surface samples are collected in two ways: with a self-collected Schirmer strips and with a self-collected ocular surface swab of the eyelid margin and conjunctiva. All study materials are mailed to participants' homes. Self-collected ocular surface samples are placed in study vials and return-mailed by the participant to a central location, UCSF Proctor Foundation laboratory. Here, the samples are processed for RNA-deep sequencing which allows for host transcriptomic analysis. To mimic repeat ocular surface collection after a future dry eye disease intervention, Schirmer strips and ocular surface self-swabbing will be repeated after 4 weeks. This decentralized approach to dry eye disease study promotes patient engagement, recruitment, communication, and participant diversity and also seeks to identify new objective markers of dry eye disease efficacy that can be collected remotely.

Conditions

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Evaporative Loss Dry Eye Disease

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

COHORT

Study Time Perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

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UCSF Recruitment Group

For this feasibility trial any patient identified in the eye clinics of the UCSF Department of Ophthalmology, Optometry, or Proctor Foundation clinic with evaporative dry eye as a primary diagnosis will be queried with regard to participation interest. Participants are recruited in person but are consented remotely. To mimic a larger, scalable, future-anticipated recruitment strategy, interested participants will be asked to scan a QR code to indicate interest in the study. Study information will be posted in clinic rooms and waiting rooms.

No interventions assigned to this group

Remote Recruitment Group

Anterior Segment Delegates of Optometry have specialty training in ocular surface disease and are located across the entire United States. Study information will be sent to Anterior Segment Delegates of the American Board of Optometry who have expressed interest in this study design. Recruitment sheets will be offered for them to post in their clinics and waiting rooms. Once an Anterior Segment delegate has confirmed dry eye disease in the interested participant, they will scan the study QR code to indicate interest in the study.

Alternatively, if sample size is not met we will recruit through ophthalmology listservs. All participants recruited through anterior segment delegates or listservs will give permission for their eye doctor to be contacted to confirm evaporative dry eye is their primary diagnosis and that no exclusion criteria exist.

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Evaporative loss dry eye disease will be confirmed by screening clinical examination. Patients with evaporative loss dry eye disease will have minimal to no corneal staining and have normal aqueous (water) tear production. Eligible patients with evaporative loss dry eye disease over the age of 18 will be offered study participation.
* There will be no ethnic restrictions on enrollment. All adults (18 years of age or older) with evaporative loss dry eye disease regardless of race or ethnicity will be recruited for participation.
* All adults (18 years of age or older) with evaporative loss dry eye disease , regardless of sex/gender are eligible for recruitment. Women will not be excluded if they are pregnant or breastfeeding.
* All adults age 18 or older with evaporative loss dry eye disease will be recruited for participation. Dry eye disease is not common in the pediatric population and younger children would require assistance with electronic symptom logging and self-performed ocular surface sample collection. Therefore, this study of feasibility of decentralized dry eye disease study will exclude children.
* No treatment is administered in this non-interventional feasibility trial, therefore if pregnant women have dry eye they can participate with no risk to the fetus.

Exclusion Criteria

* Patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca (clinically significant decrease in aqueous production) will not be included. This is because the population with this dry eye disease subtype is at higher risk for corneal epithelial breakdown and ocular surface infection.
* Patients unwilling to measure their own tear production at home will be excluded.
* Patients without internet access or reasonable proximity/access to a post box will be excluded.
* Eyedrop use is not an exclusion criterion.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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That Man May See, Inc.

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of California, San Francisco

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Gerami Seitzman, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, San Francisco

Locations

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University of California, San Francisco

San Francisco, California, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Gerami D Seitzman, MD

Role: CONTACT

+14154761442

Brianna K Colado, BA

Role: CONTACT

Facility Contacts

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Gerami D Seitzman, MD

Role: primary

415-476-1442

References

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"Uninformative research" is the global health crisis you've never heard of. The Gates Foundation. Accessed September 23, 2024. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/deworm3-clinical-trialsshow- the-value-of-informed-researchhttps://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/deworm3-clinicaltrials- show-the-value-of-informed-research

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Yu J, Asche CV, Fairchild CJ. The economic burden of dry eye disease in the United States: a decision tree analysis. Cornea. 2011 Apr;30(4):379-87. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0b013e3181f7f363.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21045640 (View on PubMed)

Stapleton F, Alves M, Bunya VY, Jalbert I, Lekhanont K, Malet F, Na KS, Schaumberg D, Uchino M, Vehof J, Viso E, Vitale S, Jones L. TFOS DEWS II Epidemiology Report. Ocul Surf. 2017 Jul;15(3):334-365. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2017.05.003. Epub 2017 Jul 20.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28736337 (View on PubMed)

McCann P, Abraham AG, Mukhopadhyay A, Panagiotopoulou K, Chen H, Rittiphairoj T, Gregory DG, Hauswirth SG, Ifantides C, Qureshi R, Liu SH, Saldanha IJ, Li T. Prevalence and Incidence of Dry Eye and Meibomian Gland Dysfunction in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2022 Dec 1;140(12):1181-1192. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2022.4394.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 36301551 (View on PubMed)

Sehrawat O, Noseworthy PA, Siontis KC, Haddad TC, Halamka JD, Liu H. Data-Driven and Technology-Enabled Trial Innovations Toward Decentralization of Clinical Trials: Opportunities and Considerations. Mayo Clin Proc. 2023 Sep;98(9):1404-1421. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2023.02.003.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 37661149 (View on PubMed)

Hanley DF Jr, Bernard GR, Wilkins CH, Selker HP, Dwyer JP, Dean JM, Benjamin DK Jr, Dunsmore SE, Waddy SP, Wiley KL Jr, Palm ME, Mould WA, Ford DF, Burr JS, Huvane J, Lane K, Poole L, Edwards TL, Kennedy N, Boone LR, Bell J, Serdoz E, Byrne LM, Harris PA. Decentralized clinical trials in the trial innovation network: Value, strategies, and lessons learned. J Clin Transl Sci. 2023 Jul 25;7(1):e170. doi: 10.1017/cts.2023.597. eCollection 2023.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 37654775 (View on PubMed)

Jean-Louis G, Seixas AA. The value of decentralized clinical trials: Inclusion, accessibility, and innovation. Science. 2024 Aug 23;385(6711):eadq4994. doi: 10.1126/science.adq4994. Epub 2024 Aug 23.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 39172847 (View on PubMed)

McCann P, Kruoch Z, Lopez S, Malli S, Qureshi R, Li T. Interventions for Dry Eye: An Overview of Systematic Reviews. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2024 Jan 1;142(1):58-74. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.5751.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 38127364 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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25-43371

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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