The prevalence of exfoliation syndrome in Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of the exfoliation syndrome and its relationship with ocular and cardiovascular diseases in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey.


METHODS
This cross-sectional and population-based study was conducted at the Sivas Province among the population aged 40 years and over. The diagnosis of XFS was made when exfoliative material was found on the anterior lens capsule or iris on slit-lamp examination. The subjects were divided into an XFS group and a non-XFS group according to the presence of exfoliative material, and the groups were compared for the presence of glaucoma, cataract, age-related macular degeneration, phacodonesis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, smoking and alcohol-use frequency.


RESULTS
XFS was present in 63 subjects consisting of 42 males (8.0%) and 21 females (3.6%) for an overall rate of 5.7% (95% CI: 0.054-0.060). Once we adjusted the values for age, we found a statistically significant relationship of increased age and male gender with the presence of XFS (p = 0.001, p = 0.027, respectively). The relationship between XFS and glaucoma, cataract and phacodonesis was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.001). No relationship was found between exfoliation syndrome and hypertension, diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of exfoliation syndrome was 5.7% in this population-based study. There was a statistically significant relationship between XFS and advancing age and male gender.
Department of Ophthalmology, Sivas Numune Hospital, Sivas, Turkey.
Raşit
R
Kılıç
Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.
Naim
N
Karagöz
Department of Ophthalmology, Sivas Numune Hospital, Sivas, Turkey.
Abdi Bahadır
AB
Çetin
Department of Ophthalmology, Sivas Numune Hospital, Sivas, Turkey.
Yasin
Y
Çakmak
Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.
Hafize
H
Sezer
Department of Ophthalmology, Sivas Numune Hospital, Sivas, Turkey.
Yusuf
Y
Özay
Department of Ophthalmology, Sivas Numune Hospital, Sivas, Turkey.
Sebile Üstün
SÜ
Çomçalı
Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.
Ayhan
A
Dursun
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017889:Exfoliation Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
cataract; coronary artery disease; exfoliation syndrome; glaucoma