Pterygium Prevalence and Its Associations in a Russian Population: The Ural Eye and Medical Study

To assess the prevalence of pterygia and its associations in a population in Russia.

Population-based cross-sectional study.

The Ural Eye and Medical Study was performed in a rural and urban area in Ufa/Bashkortostan 1300 km east of Moscow. Out of 7328 eligible individuals aged 40+ years, 5899 (80.5%) individuals participated and underwent an ocular and systemic examination. Pterygia, defined as conjunctival extensions onto the clear cornea, were diagnosed upon slit-lamp examination and on corneal photographs.

Mean pterygium prevalence (per individual) was 138/5888 (2.3%; 95% confidence intervals [CI]:2.0, 2.7), with bilateral occurrence in 45 individuals (32.6% of patients with pterygium; 0.8% of study population). Pterygium prevalence increased from 0.8% (95% CI: 0.02, 1.6) in the age group from 40 to <45 years to 3.6% (95% CI: 2.1, 5.1) in the age group of 75+ years. In multivariable analysis, higher pterygium prevalence was associated with older age (P = .006; odds ratio [OR]: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.04), rural vs urban region of habitation (P < .001; OR: 2.33; 95% CI: 1.57, 3.46), and lower level of education (P = .03; OR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.81, 0.99), while the pterygium prevalence was statistically independent of sex (P = .34), Russian vs non-Russian ethnicity (P = .59), presence of diabetes mellitus (P = 1.00), arterial hypertension (P = .86), vegetarian vs mixed diet (P = 1.00), blood lipid concentration (P > .30), history of cardiovascular disease (P = .49), or axial length (P = .52).

In this rural and urban, typically multiethnic Russian study population aged 40+ years, a higher pterygium prevalence (mean: 2.3%) was correlated with older age, rural region of habitation, and lower educational level, while it was statistically independent of most other systemic or ocular parameters. A pterygium was not a biomarker for an internal medical disease.