Prevalence of Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome and Related Ocular Man ifestations in Patients Scheduled for Cataract Surgery

Background: Pseudoexfoliation syndrome is an age-related condition marked by the deposition of a distinct fibrillar extracellular material in the eyes and other organs. Affecting nearly 70 million people worldwide, it is linked to various ocular conditions and complications that can impact long-term visual outcomes. Purpose: To determine the prevalence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome and ocular manifestations related to it among patients who were scheduled for cataract surgery. Methods and material: Ahospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on consecutive 222 patients aged ≥ 40 years who were scheduled for cataract surgery. A structured questionnaire and an abstraction formant for ocular examination were used to collect data. The collected data were coded and entered into SPSS version 25 for analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed to present the results. Results: The prevalence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome was 38.7% (86/222) (95% CI, 32.3– 45.5). In comparison to patients without pseudoexfoliation, patient with pseudoexfoliation had a higher mean age (67.7 ± 11.2 vs. 61.2 ± 10.1: P< 0.001). Significant association were found with working conditions (P< 0.001) and sex (P = 0.008), with outdoor workers and males being more affected. The mean intraocular pressure was higher in eyes with pseudoexfoliation (17.16 ± 3.83 vs. 15.63 ± 2.96mmHg: P = 0.001) and mean pupillary diameter after dilation was smaller (5.72 ± 0.86 vs. 6.73 ± 0.9 mm: P<0.001). All 24 eyes with phacodonesis or subluxation had pseudoexfoliation syndrome (P>< 0.001). Conclusion and Recommendation: This study revealed a high prevalence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome (38.7%) among cataract patients. The condition was significantly associated with older age, working outdoors, male sex, higher intraocular pressure, poor pupillary dilation, and the presence of phacodonesis or subluxated lenses. Population-based studies are recommended to evaluate the prevalence of pseudoexfoliation in the general population, and further studies on cataract surgical outcomes in patients with pseudoexfoliation are recommended. Keywords: Cataract, Hawassa, Ethiopia, Pseudoexfoliation syndrome