Prevalence of and factors associated with pterygium in adult Chinese: the Beijing Eye Study.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the prevalence of pterygia and its associated factors in an adult Chinese population of Greater Beijing.


METHODS
The Beijing Eye Study, a population-based prevalence study, included 4439 (83.4%) of 5324 subjects living in a rural area or urban region of Greater Beijing, 40+ years of age, invited to participate. The participants underwent a standardized examination protocol including corneal photography.


RESULTS
A pterygium was detected in 169 (1.9%) eyes of 128 (2.9%) subjects. The prevalence of a pterygium was significantly associated with rural versus urban region (P < 0.001), age (P > 0.001), and male sex (P = 0.04). It was not associated with level of education (P = 0.25) or refractive error (P = 0.20).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of pterygium in Greater Beijing is approximately 3% among Chinese > or =40 years of age. Independent associations with living in a rural versus urban region, increasing age, and male sex suggested a correlation with outdoor work.
Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Ke
K
Ma
Liang
L
Xu
Ying
Y
Jie
Jost B
JB
Jonas
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011625:Pterygium / Q000208:ethnology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data