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Kevin D. Frick, PhD; B. Michele Melia, MS; Ralf R. Buhrmann, MD, MPH, PhD; Sheila K. West, PhD

Arch Ophthalmol. 2001;119:1839-1844.

Objective  To measure limitations in the daily activities of village life associated with having trichiasis for individuals with and without visual acuity loss.

Methods  Men and women 40 years and older in 6 randomly chosen rural villages in the Kongwa district of Tanzania had visual acuity measured and were examined by an ophthalmologist. Subjects indicated the degree of difficulty with daily activities of village life and whether the difficulty was related, in any way, to vision. Limitations were scored using an indicator of "any difficulty" and using a 4-point scale ranging from "no difficulty" to "unable to do." Scores of individuals with and without trichiasis were compared separately for men and women.

Results  Among men, trichiasis was associated with excess functional limitation only for those with visual acuity loss (adjusted difference in proportion of tasks [AD] compared with men with neither trichiasis nor visual impairment, 0.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.23-0.47). For women, trichiasis alone was limiting (AD, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.08-0.22) similarly to visual acuity loss alone (AD, 0.09; 95% CI 0.06-0.13), and the combination led to greater limitations (AD, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.26-0.39).

Conclusion  The burden of trichiasis is likely greater than previously estimated, especially in women for whom trichiasis alone was disabling.

From The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, Health Services Research and Development Center, Baltimore, Md (Dr Frick); School of Medicine, Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Baltimore (Dr West and Ms Melia); and the University of Ottawa Eye Institute, Ontario (Dr Buhrmann). Dr West is a Senior Scientific Investigator from Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, NY.

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