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PURPOSE: A community-based study was conducted to determine the prevalence and sociodemographic factors of pseudoexfoliation syndrome among adults in Southern Ethiopia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among subjects aged 40 years or older. Subjects underwent standardized examination, including portable slit-lamp biomicroscopy before and after pupillary dilatation, and intraocular pressure measurement using Tono-Pen. Pseudoexfoliation was diagnosed on slit-lamp examination by the presence of white dandruff-like material on the pupillary margin and/or on the anterior lens capsule of one or both eyes. RESULTS: Among 760 participants, the prevalence of pseudoexfoliation was 12.0% (95% confidence interval: 9.7-14.3%). The mean age of pseudoexfoliation cases was 63.9 years (SD 9.96, age range 40-90 years). The prevalence increased with increasing age, with 26.9% of those 60 or older affected. Slightly higher proportion of males (12.4%) were found to have pseudoexfoliation in either of the eyes than females (11.6%) which was not statistically significant (p = 0.738). Mean IOP in subjects with pseudoexfoliation was found to be 20.65 ± 5.15 mmHg, while it was 15.0 ± 2.3 mmHg for those without pseudoexfoliation. The difference between the two populations was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of pseudoexfoliation in eyes of people in Southern Ethiopia appears greater than that reported in other places of Africa and Asia. Pseudoexfoliation occurs at a relatively younger age in our population. Increasing age is associated with the presence of pseudoexfoliation, and pseudoexfoliation in turn is associated with higher intraocular pressure.
Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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