Women with pterygium report more discomfort than men, survey finds

Women with pterygium report more discomfort than men, according to results from a recent survey of pterygium patients in Mexico.

"It is likely that men and women with other sources of ocular surface discomfort also respond differently to pain," the study authors said.

To determine whether discomfort associated with pterygium differs between men and women, Graeme Wilson, PhD, and colleagues administered an oral questionnaire to 180 pterygium patients who were separated into two subsamples for analysis.

Questioned by a male interviewer, the first subsample included 28 pairs of men and women matched for age and pterygium stage who had been selected from a total of 110 interviewees. The second subsample included 16 pairs of men and women matched for age and stage of pterygium who had been selected from a total of 70 interviewees; for these patients, the interviewer was a woman.

All patients ranged in age from 41 to 82 years.

The questionnaire included topics regarding seven sensations of discomfort and five environmental sources of irritation, including smoke, cigarette smoke, dust, wind and sun.

Pterygium staging was based on a five-step progression scale, ranging from localized minor disturbances of the nasal conjunctiva to compound pterygium.

The researchers reported a statistically significant difference in ocular surface discomfort between men and women for both the male interviewer (P < .001) and the female interviewer (P < .01) subsamples, according to the study, published in the July issue of Eye & Contact Lens.