Risk factors for trichiasis in women in Kongwa, Tanzania: a case-control study

Women are at a greater risk compared to men for blinding complications from trachoma. In order to evaluate risk factors in women, 205 cases of trichiasis (TT) were selected from 11 villages in rural Tanzania. Each case of trichiasis was matched to two women of the same age and from the same village, who had no clinical signs of trachoma. Factors associated with trichiasis in a conditional logistic regression included history of trichiasis in the women's mother (odds ratio [OR] = 3.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0-6.5); sleeping in a room with a cooking fire during childbearing years (OR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2-2.8); a home of wood and earth during childbearing years (OR = 2.1; 95% CI: 1.3-3.3); no adult education classes (OR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.4-3.4); and five or more deaths among her children (OR = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.3-5.1). Detailed measures of prolonged exposure to child care as a young girl and as a mother showed no significant difference between cases and controls. Results from this study characterize women at high risk for severe disease and eventual blindness in a trachoma endemic area.