Global burden of trichiasis in women as compared to men: Findings from the Global Trachoma Mapping Project

George Moyo

Abstract

Trachomatous trichiasis is targeted for elimination by 2020. It is globally accepted that there is an excess risk of trachomatous trichiasis in women compared to men with many factors contributing to this finding. We sought to update previous work on the subject and to undertake some sub-analyses to help interpret the findings. This secondary data analysis used data collected through the Global Trachoma Mapping Project (GTMP), a large set of standardized population- based trachoma prevalence surveys from 2013-16. Our analysis included 693 evaluation units (EUs) in 16 countries with a total sample of 1,143,742 residents’ age 15 years and above. RevMan 5 was used to generate an age-adjusted Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Among the 498,317 men examined 3,566 had trichiasis. Among the 645,425 women examined 9,156 women had trichiasis.