Prevalence and risk factors of Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis among a Ghanaian clinical cohort: A case-control study

Background

Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) has been determined to be highly prevalent in countries within the tropical climate region. However, little evidence from studies conducted within this region has been put forward to support this claim.

Aim

To determine the prevalence and risk factors of VKC among a Ghanaian clinical cohort.

Methods

A 3-year case-control study was conducted in a tertiary eye care institution, and medical records of patients who had been diagnosed of VKC between 2018 and 2021 were reviewed.

Results

Medical records of 3800 patients were reviewed. Some 359 cases of VKC were identified, with a population prevalence rate of 9.45 % . Males comprised 57.1 % of the population with VKC, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.33 : 1 . The disease was more prevalent (40.8%) in children (≤ 17 years), and the overall odds of incidence decreased by 10% for a unit increase in age. Age and sex-adjusted models revealed significant positive associations between Keratoconus [aOR = 40.760, 95% CI -5.948 to 339.937], Rhinitis [cOR = 5.183, 95% CI -2.074 to 12.022] and VKC. However, the incidence of VKC was relatively less expressive among pterygium cases [cOR = 0.315, 95% CI -0.077 to 0.846].

Conclusion

VKC is highly prevalent among children and is often associated with comorbidities of atopic origin that exacerbate the impact of the disease among this vulnerable population. It is imperative that clinicians provide holistic care for children with VKC.

Cardiometabolic syndrome among general adult population in Ghana: The role of lipid accumulation product, waist circumference-triglyceride index, and triglyceride-glucose index as surrogate indicators

Background

Visceral obesity and insulin resistance contribute to developing cardiometabolic syndrome (MetS). We investigated the predictive abilities of lipid accumulation product (LAP), waist circumference-triglyceride index (WTI), and triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index for MetS screening among the general Ghanaian adults.

Methods

The final prospective analysis included 4740 healthy adults aged 30-90 years from three communities comprising Ejisu, Konongo, and Ashanti Akim Agogo in Ghana. Self-structured questionnaire pretested was used to collect sociodemographic, anthropometric, and clinical data. Blood samples were taken after fasting to measure glucose and lipid levels. LAP, WTI, and TyG were calculated from standard equations. MetS was defined by the International Diabetes Federation criteria. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and multivariable logistic regression were utilized to evaluate the potential of the three indices in identifying MetS.

Results

Of the 4740 participants, 39.7% had MetS. MetS was more common in females (50.3%) than in males (22.2%). Overall, LAP ≥ 27.52 yielded as the best index for MetS with the highest area under the ROC curve (AUC) (0.866). At cut-off LAP point of ≥23.87 in males and ≥33.32 in females, an AUC of 0.951 and 0.790 was identified in MetS prediction, respectively. LAP was an independent risk measure of MetS for both males (45.6-fold) and females (3.7-fold) whereas TyG was an independent risk measure for females (3.7-fold) only.

Conclusions

MetS is increasing among the general adult population. LAP and TyG are important sex-specific risk measures to screen for MetS among the general adult population in our cohort.