Prevalence of Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome Among Adult Spanish in the Salnés eye Study

Abstract

To estimate the prevalence of Pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXF) and to investigate its relationship with systemic and ocular diseases and lifestyle factors in a general adult population in north-western Spain.An age-stratified random sample of 1155 subjects was drawn from the population aged 40 years and over of O Salnés (Spain). From 937 eligible subjects, 619 (66.1%) participated (mean age (Standard Deviation [SD]): 63.4 (14.5) years, range: 40-96, 37.0% males). An interview to collect past history of ocular and systemic diseases and lifestyle details, and a comprehensive ophthalmic evaluation were performed. Study subjects with typical pseudoexfoliative material on the anterior capsule or in the pupil margin were labelled as having PXF. A design based analysis was performed and all calculations were weighted to give unbiased estimates.The prevalence of PXF was 6.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]:4.9-8.1). PXF rates increased significantly with age (P = 0.000). No cases of PXF were detected in subjects between 40 and 60 years. Prevalence of PXF was 8.0% (95% C I5.4-11.6) in men and 5.4% (95% CI 3.8-7.6) in women (P = ns). The prevalence of glaucoma in subjects with PXF was 19.6% (95% CI 8.2-40.0). After controlling for age and sex, glaucoma, cataract surgery, rose bengal staining and diabetes were associated with PXF but only glaucoma and rose bengal staining associations remained significant in a multivariate model.PXF is common among older individuals in north-western Spain. Subjects with pseudoexfoliation have a significantly higher prevalence of glaucoma than subjects without. An abnormal ocular surface detected by rose bengal staining is highly prevalent among subjects with pseudoexfoliation.