Ophthalmology
Volume 115, Issue 12 , Pages 2153-2158, December 2008

Nine-Year Incidence and Risk Factors for Pterygium in the Barbados Eye Studies

  • Barbara Nemesure, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence: Barbara Nemesure, PhD, Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Health Sciences Center, L3 086, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8036
  • ,
  • Suh-Yuh Wu, MA

      Affiliations

    • Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York
  • ,
  • Anselm Hennis, PhD, FRCP

      Affiliations

    • Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York
    • Ministry of Health, Bridgetown, Barbados
    • Chronic Disease Research Centre, Tropical Medicine Research Institute, University of the West Indies, Barbados, West Indies
  • ,
  • M. Cristina Leske, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York
  • ,
  • Barbados Eye Studies Group

      Affiliations

    • Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York
    • Ministry of Health, Bridgetown, Barbados
    • Chronic Disease Research Centre, Tropical Medicine Research Institute, University of the West Indies, Barbados, West Indies
    • Wilmer Institute, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
    • For group membership, see Leske MC, Wu SY, Hennis A, et al. Nine-year incidence of age related macular degeneration in the Barbados Eye Studies. Ophthalmology 2006;113:29-35.

Received 25 March 2008; received in revised form 2 June 2008; accepted 1 August 2008. published online 20 October 2008.

Available online: October 18, 2008.

Purpose

To present 9-year incidence data and associated risk factors for pterygium among black participants in the Barbados Eye Studies.

Design

Population-based incidence study.

Participants

A total of 1888 black participants, aged 40 to 84 years, who were free of pterygium at baseline and received an ophthalmologic study examination at the 9-year follow-up.

Methods

Age and sex-specific 9-year incidence of pterygium is presented. Risk factors were initially identified using Mantel-Haenszel analyses, and significant factors (P<0.10) were subsequently included in multivariate logistic regression models. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) are provided.

Main Outcome Measures

Development of pterygium, defined as the presence of a raised fleshy growth that crosses the limbus and encroaches onto the clear cornea.

Results

The 9-year incidence of pterygium was 11.6% (95% CI, 10.1–13.1), with no clear pattern with increasing age and no statistically significant differences between genders. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that having a lifetime outdoor job location was positively associated with the development of pterygium (OR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.05–2.16), whereas darker skin color (OR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.46–0.97) and use of any prescription lenses (OR = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.42–0.81) were found to be protective factors.

Conclusions

The incidence of pterygium was high in this population, for an average of 1.3% per year. Working outdoors increased the risk 1.5-fold, whereas having a darker skin complexion and using eyewear for either reading or distance substantially decreased the risk of developing pterygium. These data suggest that absorption of ultraviolet light plays a role in this condition and that preventive strategies are needed to decrease the burden of pterygium development in this and other populations.

Financial Disclosure(s)

The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

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 Manuscript no. 2008-307.

 Financial Disclosure(s): The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

 Supported by Grants EY07625 and EY07617 from the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.

PII: S0161-6420(08)00742-2

doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2008.08.003

Ophthalmology
Volume 115, Issue 12 , Pages 2153-2158, December 2008