The 2007 Report of the International Dry Eye WorkShop (DEWS) represents the work of many contributors over a long period of deliberation and through an iterative process that included collection of data, presentation of summary reports in a conference format, and harmonization of reports by a writing team with interactive commentary by the entire group of participants in an international workshop. The mission of DEWS was to consider current knowledge on all aspects of dry eye disease and to update, in critical and evidence-based fashion, the concepts and information presented in the 1995 National Eye Institute/Industry Workshop (Lemp MA. Report of the National Eye Institute/Industry Workshop on Clinical Trials in Dry Eye. CLAO J 1995;21:221-32).

Selection of the participants was based upon their prior history of peer-reviewed publication, level of participation in previous dry eye meetings, and collaboration with acknowledged experts in the field. The Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) provided organizational and administrative support and secured broad financial support from international corporations to facilitate the WorkShop.

The following subcommittees were formed to address specific areas: Definition and Classification; Epidemiology; Diagnosis; Research; Clinical Trials, and Management and Therapy. The process of review and consideration was ongoing over a period of several years, and the final reports and recommendations of the subcommittees were published in a special issue of The Ocular Surface, which is available in its entirety on this web site.

In addition to the report published in the special issue of The Ocular Surface (2007 Report of the International Dry Eye WorkShop. Ocul Surf 2007;5[2]:65-206), DEWS findings are available in an expanded electronic form on this web site. This site includes material excluded from the journal for reasons of space, such as appendices and standardized templates describing diagnostic tests. Each chapter addresses a topic relevant to the understanding of dry eye disease and the combined publication represents a resource that will be valuable to clinicians, epidemiologists, basic and clinical scientists and members of the pharmaceutical industry.

Because the DEWS report represents the integrated work of many participants, individual authorship is not assigned to the overall report or its chapters. Complete listing of the DEWS membership is shown in the published report and on this web site.