Original Research Article
Year: 2022 | Month: February | Volume: 9 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 117-122
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20220217
Assessment of Tear Production among Adults with Pterygium
Azuamah, Y.C.1, Abadom, N.P.2, Esenwah, E.C.3, Ikoro, N.C.4, Megwas, A.U.5
1-5Department of Optometry, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
Corresponding Author: Azuamah, Y.C.
ABSTRACT
Pterygium is a wing-shaped fibrovascular proliferation that develops over the conjunctiva. This study was carried out to compare the tear production among adult patients with pterygium and a control group. A total of 92 subjects were used for this study which comprised of 52 pterygium subjects and 40 control groups. The tear film production was measured using Schirmer’s test strips and the length of pterygium was measured using PD rule. Visual acuity and external examination were taken on all subjects before tear production measurement. Results showed that for pterygium subjects, tear production of 0-10mm had the highest frequency of 35(67.31%) followed by 11 – 20mm with the frequency of 15(28.85%) and 21 – 30mm with the least frequency of 2(3.85%). For control subjects, tear production of 11 – 20mm had the highest frequency of 24(60%) followed by 21 – 30mm with the frequency of 7(1.75%), 0 – 10mm with frequency of 6(15%) and 31 – 40mm with the least frequency of 3(7.5%). The mean tear production values of pterygium and control subjects were 10.40±5.65mm and 17.65±7.83mm respectively. SPSS version 23 data analysis using the independent sample T-test at 0.05 level of significance showed a significant reduction (P ˂ 0.05) in tear production among pterygium subjects. It was concluded that people with pterygium are more susceptible to dry eye. Public awareness of pterygium and the use of lubricating eye drops were recommended.
Keywords: Pterygium, Dry Eye, Tears, Tear film, Tear production, Conjunctiva.
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