Prevalence and severity of pterygium among commercial motorcycle riders in south eastern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND Pterygium is common among outdoor workers who are daily exposed to sunlight and dust due to repeated conjunctival /corneal drying and micro-trauma especially in the tropics. Commercial motorcyclists in Nigeria are outdoor workers who spend the greater part of the day outdoors under the intense heat and dust characteristic of this part of the world and would therefore be largely predisposed to developing this conjunctival disorder. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and severity of pterygium among these workers and relate these findings to their duration of work. METHODS A cross sectional study with a multi stage random sampling design was used to choose the 615 subjects enrolled in the study. RESULTS The prevalence for pterygium was 19.3% (206 eyes) with stage 1 occurring mostly (52%) followed by stage 2(46%). Pterygium was common among riders who had been riding for 5 years or less. The relationship between duration of riding and pterygium severity was significant (p=0.009). This prevalence was unaffected by the use of regular sun glasses (p=0.188). CONCLUSION A strong relationship exists between commercial motorcycle riding and development of pterygium not affected by using regular sunglasses. We recommend that helmets with full face shields and/or proper UV protected riding goggles where the helmets have no face shield be enforced by the regulation bodies so as to reduce the prevalence of these disorders.