ABSTRACT

Purpose:

To investigate the effects of job on the development of pterygium.

Material and Method:

We retrospectively evaluated the files of 182 patients who were diagnosed as having pterygium between August 2012 and October 2012 in the Ophthalmology Clinic at Kahramanmaraş Pazarcık State Hospital. Patients’ jobs were analyzed and the effects of job on the formation of pterygium were investigated.

Results:

In our study, we did ophthalmic examination on 2328 patients and included 182 (7.8%) patients who had pterygium. The average age was 52.2± 1.6 years (range: 16 - 87 years). 82 (45.1%) patients were agricultural workers or farmers,12 (6.6%) were officers, 48 (26.4%) were housewives, 39 (21.4%) were independent workers, and one was student. The tissue of pterygium in 62 patients (34.1%) was on the right eye, in 57 (31.3%) – on the left eye, in 63 (34.6%) - on both eyes. 51 (28%) patients were 40 years old or younger, and 131 (72%) were older than 40 years. The length of pterygium tissue in 69 (37.9%) patients was under 1.5 mm, in 88 (48.4%) - between 1.5-3 mm, and in 25 (13.7%) - more than 3 mm. 86 patients (47%) were male and 96 (53%) were female. In agricultural worker or farmer group, it was observed that the rate of pterygium increased with increasing age (p=0.015). Similarly, in the independent worker group, pterygium rate increased with increasing age (p=0.014). In the group of agricultural workers or farmers, the relationship between pterygium tissue length and job was meaningful, and in this group, the tissue of pterygium was longer (p=0.043).

Discussion:

In this study, it was seen that pterygium is most common in agricultural workers and farmers. We concluded that pterygium rate increases with increasing age in agricultural workers and farmers as well as in independent workers and that in agricultural workers and farmers, the pterygium tissue was longer than in the other groups. Especially occupational groups which work in rural areas and in external environment more frequently develop pterygium, and we assume that wearing of sunglasses and hats with appropriate size may be useful to avoid the effects of the sun.