RESUMO
PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis (AC) and its related allergic ailments among Saudi adults in the western region. METHODS: Adult population of Taif, Makkah, and Jeddah cities was surveyed from 2017 to June 2018. Subjective questionnaire was used to collect the response. Participants were asked about symptoms (redness, itching, watering, based diagnosis and details of AC, treatment taken in the pasts, and associated conditions, such as allergic asthma and rhinitis). The age-sex-adjusted prevalence, its determinants, and associations to other ailments were assessed. RESULTS: We surveyed 2187 participants (mean age 26.0 ± 9.1 years). The age-sex-adjusted prevalence of AC was 70.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 68.6-72.4). There could be 2.1 million AC patients among 3.1 million adult populations in Western KSA. It was significantly higher in females compared to males (odds ratio [OR] = 1.7 [95% CI 1.4-2.2]). The risk of AC did not vary by age group (χ 2 = 2.5, df = 3, P = 0.1). The variation of AC in three provinces was not significant (χ 2 = 0.3, df = 3, P = 0.6). Dust (42.6%) and unknown (24.8%) allergens were the main causative agents of AC. AC was significantly associated to asthma (OR = 2.8) and allergic rhinitis (OR = 2.2). CONCLUSION: AC affects seven in ten adults in Western Saudi Arabia. AC is positively associated to allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma. Public health policies at primary eye-care level should focus on early detection and care of persons with AC.
RESUMO
PURPOSE: To estimate the magnitude and determinants of color vision defects (CVD) among preparatory health science students. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017. Participants were assessed using 24-plate Ishihara's Test of Color Vision chart. If ≤9 plates were read correctly, the color vision was regarded as deficient. The CVD prevalence and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. CVD was associated with gender, family history of CVD, and other vision problems. RESULTS: We evaluated 1126 students (552, 49% males; mean age: 18.7 ± 0.7 years). The prevalence of CVD was 1.77% (95% CI: 1.0, 2.6). Among male students, it was 3.5% (95% CI: 1.9, 5.0). Only one female student had CVD. The Duran CVD was found in 18 (1.6%) students. However, only two students had Tritan CVD. Three among twenty CVD students knew that they suffer from CVD. CVD was positively associated to a family history of CVD (odds ratio [OR] = 3.8; 95% CI: 1.4, 10.1;P = 0.02) and male gender (OR = 20.4 [95% CI: 2.7, 153]). CVD was not significantly associated to other vision problems (OR = 0.8 [95% CI: 0.3, 2.0]). CONCLUSION: Eighteen in thousand health sciences students suffered from CVD. Ten percent of them had Tritan CVD. Duran CVD seems to be a male sex-related and/or a familial condition. Most of the CVD students seem to have adopted to this defect and were not aware of suffering from it. Screening for CVD is therefore debatable.
