Free · 6 questions · about 1 minute
About the OSDI-6 dry eye test
Do your eyes burn, feel gritty or tire easily? The OSDI-6 is the short symptom questionnaire that the TFOS DEWS III report uses to screen for dry eye disease. Answer six questions about the last month and see your score straight away. Your answers never leave your browser.
Prepared by Prof. Nilüfer Yeşilırmak, MD, PhD ·
Start the testHow the test works
The OSDI-6 is a short form of the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), a questionnaire used in dry eye clinics and research worldwide. Its six questions cover three areas: eye symptoms (sensitivity to light, blurring between blinks), everyday tasks that dry eye can limit (night driving, watching TV) and environmental triggers (wind, dry air). Each answer scores from 0 (never) to 4 (constantly), and the six scores are simply added up, for a total between 0 and 24.
What your score means
A score of 4 or more is a positive symptom screen.
| Score | Result | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 | Normal | Symptom screen negative — your answers do not suggest dry eye disease right now. |
| 4–8 | Mild to moderate | Your answers suggest mild-to-moderate dry eye symptoms. |
| > 8 | Severe | Your answers suggest severe dry eye symptoms. |
Why start with a questionnaire?
Dry eye starts with symptoms, and how much they affect your day matters as much as what we see at the slit lamp. A validated questionnaire turns those symptoms into a number that can be compared over time. The TFOS DEWS III report adopted the OSDI-6 as its single screening tool: a positive screen is followed by at least one objective test of the tear film or the eye surface. I discuss this in more detail in my reading of DEWS III.
What to do with your result
A negative screen is reassuring, but if you still have symptoms, mention them at your next eye check. With a score of 4 or more, it is worth booking an eye examination. A dry eye workup is painless: tear breakup time, staining with safe coloured drops and imaging of the eyelid oil glands show which type of dry eye you have, and treatment is matched to that type. Keep a note of your score; repeating the test after treatment shows how your symptoms have changed.
Frequently asked questions
This guide is for general information. Whether a treatment is right for you can only be decided after a personal examination.