Prevalence of Allergic Conjunctivitis and Associated Comorbidities among School Going Children in Western Odisha - A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND Allergic conjunctivitis (AC) is a common eye condition that is frequent in childhood. The prevalence of allergic diseases in children aged 6 to 14 years varies significantly from 0.3 % to 20.5 %, and is gradually increasing.1 It is associated with several allergic diseases affecting the ocular surface and it is the most common ocular condition encountered in clinical practice. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence, ocular manifestations of allergic conjunctivitis, and associated comorbidities among school-going children in Western Odisha. METHODS A total of 1502 children from 10 schools of Burla, participated in this crosssectional observational study. Data collection started in September 2018 up to September 2019. All the children underwent meticulous history taking for symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis and any other associated comorbidities, a structured validated questionnaire was used to collect demographic and medical data. Visual assessment, and slit-lamp examination were done to look for signs of allergic conjunctivitis and any associated complications. Interpretation and data analysis was done using Epi Info Software and a chi-square test was used to analyse significant associations among categorical variables. RESULTS The prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis was found to be 29.16 % with a males to female ratio of 1.02: 1. Children aged 13 – 16 years recorded the highest number of cases which was 43.60 %. The commonest presenting symptom was itching (100 %), Papillae were the most frequent sign (97.71 %), Seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC) was the most common type of AC reported (59.36 %), and allergic rhinitis (17.8 %) was the most common associated comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of Allergic conjunctivitis is high among children aged 5 - 16 yrs. There is a lack of treatment seeking behaviour inspite of such high frequency. Early identification & treatment of patients would help curb complications, improve the child’s quality of life and thus the ophthalmic health of the community. KEYWORDS Allergic Conjunctivitis, Ocular Comorbidities, SAC