Researches on whether gender is related to pterygium
have been uncertain.2 6–24 Many previous studies suggested
that the prevalence of pterygium was higher in
the male gender than in the female gender,6 14 15 19 24
which is consistent with the results of this meta-analysis
(men vs women, 14.5% vs 13.6%). The pooled OR was
2.32 (95% CI 1.66 to 3.23) for the male gender.
Previous studies by Lu et al2 reported that women were
at higher risk than men (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2 to 2) after
logistic regression, which involved in the lifestyle for
Tibetan women who had much rural and outdoor work.
Results by this meta-analysis suggested that the prevalence
of pterygium in the rural population was higher
than that in the urban population, because rural people
were often involved in much outdoor work. We found a
significant positive trend between increasing age and
the prevalence of pterygium, so the importance of organising
healthcare for the elderly to prevent pterygium
cannot be underestimated.