Abstract
Purpose :
Blepharitis is a chronic inflammatory eyelid disorder that can cause vision-threatening ocular complications if left untreated. Due to the common nature of blepharitis, it is important to investigate underlying risk factors for or associations with blepharitis and its severe complications. This study investigates if pediatric blepharitis and blepharitis-related complications are associated with ethnicity or socioeconomic status to identify those at greatest risk so that particular care can be taken with screening, diagnosis, and management.
Methods :
A retrospective chart review was performed on patients in Central Texas who were less than 18 years of age from 2014 to 2022 and diagnosed with blepharitis. Data were collected on patients’ sex, age, race, ethnicity, median household income by zip code, insurance status, blepharitis type and severity, and blepharitis-related ocular complications such as marginal keratitis, peripheral corneal scarring, central corneal scarring, ocular rosacea, limbal stem cell deficiency, corneal neovascularization, and pannus formation. Fisher’s exact tests and logistic regressions were used for data analyses.
Results :
Of the 136 patients who met inclusion criteria, 46 had a severe complication from their blepharitis. There was a significant correlation found between Hispanic/Latino patient ethnicity and the severity of blepharitis (p=0.036). Additionally, there was preliminary evidence supporting a correlation between lower median household income, pannus formation, and corneal neovascularization (p=0.05). There were no significant correlations between household income and presence of other complications, autoimmune disease, severity of presentation, or between insurance status and blepharitis severity.
Conclusions :
Studies have characterized morbidity of blepharitis in adults, but research is lacking in the pediatric population. Pediatric patients of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity in Central Texas have a significantly higher tendency to develop greater severity of blepharitis (p=0.036) and those with lower median household income tend to have higher rates of complications of pannus formation and corneal neovascularization from blepharitis (p=0.05). Better understanding of the pathophysiologic association between blepharitis, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status may aid in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of its complications in vulnerable populations.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.