Prevalence of Solar Keratopathy, Pterygium and Cataract in the Islands of Northern Red Sea Zone, Eritrea: Cross-Sectional Study, 2021

Figures & data

Table 1 Distribution of Respondents by Selected Characteristics

Variables	Frequency (N)	Percent (%)
Age of respondents (years)
40–49	399	50.7
50–59	202	25.7
60–69	101	12.8
70 and above	85	10.8
Sex
Female	205	26.0
Male	582	74.0
Occupation
Housewife	205	26.0
Fisherman	251	31.9
Navy	331	42.1
Duration of work (years)
6–14	55	7.0
15–24	232	29.5
25–34	151	19.2
35–44	103	13.1
45 and above	41	5.2
Use of sunglass
Yes	128	16.3
No	659	83.7
Regular use of hat
No	767	97.5
Yes	20	2.5
Do you have vision problems?
No	332	42.2
Yes	455	57.8
History of eye operation
Yes	93	11.8
No	694	88.2
History of eye trauma
No	767	97.5
Yes	20	2.5
Visual acuity right eye
Blind	111	14.1
Normal	458	58.2
Poor	218	27.7
Visual acuity left eye
Blind	110	14.0
Normal	444	56.4
Poor	233	29.6
Solar keratopathy
No	633	80.4
Yes	154	19.6
Corneal opacity due to trauma
No	775	98.5
Yes	12	1.5
Corneal stadphyloma
No	777	98.7
Yes	10	1.3
Corneal opacity due to surgery
No	783	99.5
Yes	4	0.5
Cataract
No	663	84.2
Yes	124	15.8
Pterygium
No	472	60.0
Yes	315	40.0
Pseudo pterygium
No	735	93.4
Yes	52	6.6
Pinguecula
No	534	67.9
Yes	253	32.1
Total	787	100.0

Table 2 Association of Background of Respondents with Their Visual Acuity

Variables	Visual Acuity Left Eye			P-value
	Blind N (%)	Normal N (%)	Poor N (%)
Age of respondents (years)
40–49	9 (2.3)	322 (80.7)	68 (17.0)	<0.001
50–59	20 (9.9)	102 (50.5)	80 (39.6)
60–69	28 (27.7)	18 (17.8)	55 (54.5)
70 and above	53 (62.4)	2 (2.4)	30 (35.3)
Sex
Female	52 (25.4)	69 (33.7)	84 (41.0)	<0.001
Male	58 (10.0)	375 (64.4)	149 (25.6)
Occupation
Housewife	52 (25.4)	69 (33.7)	84 (41.0)	<0.001
Fisherman	57 (22.7)	93 (37.1)	101 (40.2)
Navy	1 (0.3)	282 (85.2)	48 (14.5)
Duration of work (years)
6–14	1 (1.8)	49 (89.1)	5 (9.1)	<0.001
15–24	1 (0.4)	194 (83.6)	37 (15.9)
25–34	7 (4.6)	98 (64.9)	46 (30.5)
35–44	28 (27.2)	31 (30.1)	44 (42.7)
45 and above	21 (51.2)	3 (7.3)	17 (41.5)
Use of sunglasses
Yes	7 (5.5)	85 (66.4)	36 (28.1)	0.005
No	103 (15.6)	359 (54.5)	197 (29.9)
Regular use of hat
No	110 (14.3)	427 (55.7)	230 (30.0)	0.026
Yes	0 (0.0)	17 (85.0)	3 (15.0)
Do you have vision problems?
No	9 (2.7)	254 (76.5)	69 (20.8)	<0.001
Yes	101 (22.2)	190 (41.8)	164 (36.0)
History of eye operation
Yes	45 (48.4)	7 (7.5)	41 (44.1)	<0.001
No	65 (9.4)	437 (63.0)	192 (27.7)
History of eye trauma
No	108 (14.1)	431 (56.2)	228 (29.7)	0.724
Yes	2 (10.0)	13 (65.0)	5 (25.0)
Total	110 (14.0)	444 (56.4)	233 (29.6)

Table 3 Association of Background of Study Participants with Solar Keratopathy and Cataract

Variables	Solar Keratopathy		P-value	Cataract		P-value
	No N (%)	Yes N (%)		No N (%)	Yes N (%)
Age (years)
40–49	383 (96.0)	16 (4.0)	<0.001	378 (94.7)	21 (5.3)	<0.001
50–59	168 (83.2)	34 (16.8)		166 (82.2)	36 (17.8)
60–69	55 (54.5)	46 (45.5)		60 (59.4)	41 (40.6)
70 and above	27 (31.8)	58 (68.2)		59 (69.4)	26 (30.6)
Sex
Female	164 (80.0)	41 (20.0)	0.856	143 (69.8)	62 (30.2)	<0.001
Male	469 (80.6)	113 (19.4)		520 (89.3)	62 (10.7)
Occupation
Housewife	164 (80.0)	41 (20.0)	<0.001	143 (69.8)	62 (30.2)	<0.001
Fisherman	139 (55.4)	112 (44.6)		204 (81.3)	47 (18.7)
Navy	331 (100.)	0 (0.0)		316 (95.5)	15 (4.5)
Duration of work (years)
6–14	55 (100.0)	0 (0.0)	<0.001	52 (94.5)	3 (5.5)	<0.001
15–24	226 (97.4)	6 (2.6)		222 (95.7)	10 (4.3)
25–34	129 (85.4)	22 (14.6)		141 (93.4)	10 (6.6)
35–44	53 (51.5)	50 (48.5)		75 (72.8)	28 (27.2)
45 and above	6 (14.6)	35 (85.4)		30 (73.2)	11 (26.8)
Use of sunglasses
Yes	107 (83.6)	21 (16.4)	0.324	115 (89.8)	13 (10.2)	0.057
No	526 (79.8)	133 (20.2)		548 (83.2)	111 (16.8)
Regular use of hat
No	613 (79.9)	154 (20.1)	0.025	646 (84.2)	121 (15.8)	0.925
Yes	20 (100.0)	0 (0.0)		17 (85.0)	3 (15.0)
Do you have vision problems?
No	307 (92.5)	25 (7.5)	<0.001	306 (92.2)	26 (7.8)	<0.001
Yes	326 (71.6)	129 (28.4)		357 (78.5)	98 (21.5)
History of eye operation
Yes	50 (53.8)	43 (46.2)	<0.001	59 (63.4)	34 (36.6)	<0.001
No	583 (84.0)	111 (16.0)		604 (87.0)	90 (13.0)
History of eye trauma
No	614 (80.1)	153 (19.9)	0.096	644 (84.0)	123 (16.0)	0.181
Yes	19 (95.0)	1 (5.0)		19 (95.0)	1 (5.0)
Total	633 (80.4)	154 (19.6)		663 (84.2)	124 (15.8)

Table 4 Association of Respondent’s Background with Pterygium and Pinguecula

Variables	Pterygium		P-value	Pinguecula		P-value
	No N (%)	Yes N (%)		No N (%)	Yes N (%)
Age (years)
40–49	223 (55.9)	176 (44.1)	<0.001	243 (60.9)	156 (39.1)	<0.001
50–59	121 (59.9)	81 (40.1)		132 (65.3)	70 (34.7)
60–69	60 (59.4)	41 (40.6)		84 (83.2)	17 (16.8)
70 and above	68 (80.0)	17 (20.0)		75 (88.2)	10 (11.8)
Sex
Female	123 (60.0)	82 (40.0)	0.993	155 (75.6)	50 (24.4)	0.006
Male	349 (60.0)	233 (40.0)		379 (65.1)	203 (34.9)
Occupation
Housewife	123 (60.0)	82 (40.0)	<0.001	155 (75.6)	50 (24.4)	0.004
Fisherman	166 (66.1)	85 (33.9)		174 (69.3)	77 (30.7)
Navy	183 (55.3)	148 (44.7)		205 (61.9)	126 (38.1)
Duration of work (years)
6–14	35 (63.6)	20 (36.4)	<0.001	28 (50.9)	27 (49.1)	<0.001
15–24	125 (53.9)	107 (46.1)		145 (62.5)	87 (37.5)
25–34	86 (57.0)	65 (43.0)		98 (64.9)	53 (35.1)
35–44	66 (64.1)	37 (35.9)		71 (68.9)	32 (31.1)
45 and above	37 (90.2)	4 (9.8)		37 (90.2)	4 (9.8)
Use of sunglasses
Yes	77 (60.2)	51 (39.8)	0.963	85 (66.4)	43 (33.6)	0.702
No	395 (59.9)	264 (40.1)		449 (68.1)	210 (31.9)
Regular use of hat
No	463 (60.4)	304 (39.6)	0.166	520 (67.8)	247 (32.2)	0.835
Yes	9 (45.0)	11 (55.0)		14 (70.0)	6 (30.0)
Do you have vision problems?
No	174 (52.4)	158 (47.6)	<0.001	194 (58.4)	138 (41.6)	<0.001
Yes	298 (65.5)	157 (34.5)		340 (74.7)	115 (25.3)
History of eye operation
Yes	67 (72.0)	26 (28.0)	0.011	83 (89.2)	10 (10.8)	<0.001
No	405 (58.4)	289 (41.6)		451 (65.0)	243 (35.0)
History of eye trauma
No	460 (60.0)	307 (40.0)	0.998	523 (68.2)	244 (31.8)	0.213
Yes	12 (60.0)	8 (40.0)		11 (55.0)	9 (45.0)
Total	472 (60.0)	315 (40.0)		534 (67.9)	253 (32.1)