Effects of wearing swimming goggles on non-invasive tear break-up time in a laboratory setting Vera, Jesús Redondo, Beatriz Molina, Rubén Jiménez Rodríguez, Raimundo Tear film surface quality Swimming goggles Dry eye disease Tear film stability Dynamic-area High-speed Videokeratoscopy Purpose: The use of swimming goggles (SG) has demonstrated to alter different ocular parameters, however, the impact of wearing SG on the tear film stability remains unknown. The main objective of this study was to determine the short-term effects of wearing SG on tear film surface quality break-up time (TFSQ-BUT). Methods: Twenty-eight young healthy adults (14 men and 14 women) wore a drilled SG, and TFSQ-BUT was measured before, during and after SG use. Dynamic-area high-speed videokeratoscopy was used for the non-invasive assessment of TFSQ-BUT. Results: TFSQ-BUT was significantly reduced while SG wear in comparison to the baseline measurement (4.8 ± 4.5 s vs. 8.8 ± 6.9 s; corrected p-value = 0.017, d = 0.57, mean difference = 4.0 [0.6, 7.3]; 45% reduction). Immediately after SG removal, TFSQ-BUT rapidly recovered baseline levels (8.2 ± 5.9 s vs. 8.8 ± 6.9 s; corrected p-value = 0.744). The impact of wearing SG on TFSQ-BUT were independent of the gender of the participants (p = 0.934). Conclusion: The use of SG induces a TFSQ-BUT reduction, with these changes returning to baseline levels immediately after SG removal. These data may be of relevance for the management of dry eye patients, who need to avoid circumstances that exacerbate tear film instability. Nevertheless, these results must be interpreted with caution since the experiment did not entirely mimic real-life conditions (e.g., eye cup piece drilled, time of exposure, environmental conditions). Future studies should consider the inclusion of dry eye patients and older individual in order to explore the generalizability of these findings. 2021-09-13T10:34:10Z 2021-09-13T10:34:10Z 2021 journal article J. Vera, B. Redondo, R. Molina et al., Effects of wearing swimming goggles on noninvasive tear break-up time in a laboratory setting, Journal of Optometry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optom.2020.09.003 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/70171 10.1016/j.optom.2020.09.003 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ open access Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España ELSEVIER