Comparison of corneal astigmatism characteristics and prevalence of corneal astigmatism between Turkish individuals and Syrian refugees

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the prevalence, magnitude and type of corneal astigmatism between Turkish individuals and Syrian refugees. Material and methods: Data of patients scheduled for cataract surgery between January 2019 and 2020 were reviewed. The patients were randomly stratified according to their ethnicity (Turkish individuals or Syrian refugees). Keratometry was performed with the keratometer of IOLMaster 500. Quantitative analysis was performed using the power vector method (J0 and J45). The association between age and astigmatism in the two groups was explored. Results: The study included 4085 eyes of 2049 patients (3962 eyes of Turkish individuals and 123 eyes of Syrian refugees). The mean magnitude of corneal astigmatism, J0, J45 and prevalence of against the rule (ATR) astigmatism and with the rule (WTR) astigmatism were 1.01 D, 0.06, 0.01 D, 37.6% and 43.7% in Turkish individuals and 1.13 D, −0.02, 0.07 D, 46.3% and 37.4% in Syrian refugees, respectively. There were no significant differences according to age, sex, right/left eyes, corneal astigmatism magnitude, keratometric values, J0 and J45 ( p > 0.05) between the two groups. Below 40 years of age, the mean corneal astigmatism magnitude in Syrian refugees was significantly higher than that in Turkish individuals ( p = 0.037). At all ages, ATR astigmatism prevalence was higher in Syrian refugees than in Turkish individuals. ATR astigmatic shift began at a younger age in Syrian refugees ( p = 0.037). Age- and sex-adjusted analysis showed that J0 was significantly lower in Syrian refugees than in Turkish individuals ( p = 0.013). Conclusion: The prevalence and magnitude of ATR astigmatism were higher and onset earlier in Syrian refugees than in Turkish individuals.

Corneal astigmatism in different ethnic groups in the Western Cape, South Africa.

“…Differences in corneal power, without differences in corneal astigmatism have previously been described when comparing ethnic groups 4,6,8 . However, other studies found differences in corneal power between ethnic groups 5,7 This is the rst study looking at corneal astigmatism among people of African Black, Mixed Race, and Caucasian descent, which is its main strength. Other strengths include its moderate sample size, the fact that data collection was prospective, and that ethnicity was self-reported.…”

“…Our results are consistent with international studies, comparing corneal astigmatism between different ethnic groups. None of the studies found a statistically signi cant difference in corneal astigmatism magnitude between ethnic groups [4][5][6][7] . The following ethnic groups were represented in these studies: Caucasians, Asians, Turks, Syrians, Arabs, Bedouins, and Jews.…”

“…In international literature, several studies examining corneal astigmatism reported no difference between ethnic groups [4][5][6][7] . Only one study reported difference in corneal astigmatism magnitude and prevalence of against the rule astigmatism in a speci c age group between Turks and Syrians 5 .…”