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ABSTRACT
The ocular surface which comprises of the cornea, conjunctiva, and tear film plays an important role in maintaining visual clarity and ocular health. Diseases of the ocular surface can arise from exposure of the eye to harsh environmental conditions like dust-laden wind, temperature and weather conditions of the dry season. This study was aimed at investigating the pattern of ocular surface diseases during the dry season in eye clinics in Egor local government area, Benin city. A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out to analyze the clinical record of 1,173 patients that presented to the eye clinics within November 2023 and January 2024. A total of 153 patients, males 77 (50.3%) and females 76 (49.7%), were found to have ocular surface disease with a mean age of 30 ± 13.257 and a prevalence of 13.04%. The most common ocular surface disease was dry eye (30.1%) followed by allergic conjunctivitis (26.1%) while ocular trauma (3.3%) was the least frequently seen. Chi-square test was used to determine if there was significant relationship between age and ocular surface disease. The result gave p <0.001 showing that there was a statistically significant relationship. Dry eye disease and pterygium were found to affect the elderly population more while allergic conjunctivitis and ocular trauma affected the younger population. The analysis from chi-square test also showed that gender had no statistically significant relationship with ocular surface disease distribution (p=0.173) while occupation had a significant relationship with the pattern distribution of ocular surface disease (p<0.001). Bankers had a higher frequency of dry eye disease, pupil/students had more cases of allergic conjunctivitis while drivers had more occurrence of pterygium. Ocular surface disease is a significant cause of ocular morbidity and functional impairment and therefore there’s a need for effective management strategies to prevent its occurrence. Keywords: Ocular surface diseases, Harmattan, Dry eyes, Allergic Conjunctivitis.
