OCULAR SURFACE DISEASE INDEX ©

Please answer the following questions by checking the box that best represents your answer.

Have you experienced any of the following during the last week?

All of the time Most of the time Half of the time Some of the time None of the time
1. Eyes that are sensitive to light?
2. Eyes that feel gritty?
3. Painful or sore eyes?
4. Blurred vision?
5. Poor vision?


Have problems with your eyes limited you in performing any of the following during the last week?

All of the time Most of the time Half of the time Some of the time None of the time N/A
6. Reading?
7. Driving at night?
8. Working with a computer or bank machine (ATM)?
9. Watching TV?


Have your eyes felt uncomfortable in any of the following situations during the last week?

All of the time Most of the time Half of the time Some of the time None of the time N/A
10. Windy conditions?
11. Places or areas with low humidity (very dry)?
12. Areas that are air conditioned?


Your Score:

Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) Version 1
© 1995 Allergan
All rights reserved.
Used with permission.

Our suggestions for using OSDI

  1. Use the tool above, or print out PDF download to the right, or get the free smartphone app and let it do the work.

  2. Repeat at least once a month. (Once a week would be great!)

  3. Email your scores to your eye doctor before every appointment (or bring hard copies if you don’t have the app). Use it as the basis for a conversation about where you are at and where you want to get to. Make sure it gets into your medical record.

  4. EXTRA CREDIT: If your eye doctor is not already using either OSDI or another symptom questionnaire regularly with their dry eye patients, have a conversation with them about it. If it helps you, it will help others.

OSDI Questionnaire (PDF)

About OSDI and how it can help YOU

What is it? OSDI is a simple 12-question survey that rates the severity of your dry eye disease based on your symptoms. OSDI stands for the “Ocular Surface Disease Index”. It has been scientifically validated and has been used in clinical trials for dry eye drugs, devices and other remedies for more than 20 years.

Why should I use it? Have you ever had difficulty explaining to your eye doctor how your eyes feel and how much dry eye is affecting your daily life? That’s what a symptom scorer like OSDI can help with. It moves the conversation from subjective language to objective numbers. Communicating your symptoms in numbers helps ensure that your symptoms get taken seriously and are addressed. (Imagine if how your eyes felt mattered as much as your Schirmer or TBUT or osmolarity or meibography scores!) A symptom score is an important catalyst for conversations with your doctor about exactly where you’re at and where you want to be. Using this scorer regularly is also a key way to rate your progress after starting a treatment. How many of us can remember accurately how we felt a month, two months, three months, six months ago? A history of OSDI scores can give you a clearer view of where you’ve been and where you are now. Do I stay the course? Redirect? Maybe need more help? Using your symptom ‘trend line’ can help guide you and your doctor through these decisions.

Is it the only one? No! Today, there are several other “symptom surveys” available, such as McMonnies, SPEED, IDEEL and SANDE. They each have their strengths. We recommend OSDI because it is well known, scientifically validated, very simple and quick to use, and readily available. We believe it is the simplest, most convenient way to get started using a symptom score.

Is your doctor using a symptom scorer? One of the marks of a dry eye specialist is that they will always have their patients fill out a symptom survey of some kind at every visit - it’s key to assessing not only where you are today, but whether your treatments are working to your satisfaction. If your doctor has not started using a survey yet, please take the initiative and bring this need to their attention. In doing so, you may end up helping more people than just yourself when your doctor starts offering this to their other patients!

Using OSDI is one of many ways that every one of us can take part in the process of raising the standard of care in dry eye, and improving futures for all of us. For more ideas, click here.