Incidence and influencing factors of ocular surface disease among power grid construction workers in plateau: a real-world study

Methods  A total of 11 132 construction personnel from the Ngari prefecture-central Tibet power grid interconnection project were included from 2019 to 2020.Baseline characteristics including age, gender, body mass index, developmental and nutritional status, relevant clinical indicators, etc.and follow-up data regarding incidence of ocular surface diseases were obtained from the medical records of Ali interconnection project staff medical station.The altitude of workplace and residence of the study population were obtained from the website (https: //zh-cn.topographic-map.com/legal/).The mean age of the subjects was (36.17±10.48) years, of which 95.33%(10, 612 subjects) were male.The median follow-up time was 1.53 years.The altitude of the residence and workplace were (1 954.77±940.64) and (4 535.09±232.71) meters, respectively.The incidence of ocular surface diseases in groups with different characteristics was calculated.Differential variables for the incidence of ocular surface diseases were screened by univariate Cox proportional hazards regression model.Influencing factors of ocular surface diseases multivariate were explored by Cox proportional hazards model.This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Peking University Health Science Center (No.IRB00001052-21066).

Results  During the follow-up period, the incidence of ocular surface disease was 9.27% (1 032 cases), and the incidence of conjunctivitis and keratitis was 6.58% (733 cases) and 1.80% (200 cases), respectively.Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that for every 1 000 meters increase in altitude of residence, the risk of ocular surface disease decreased by 15% ( HR[95% CI]: 0.85[0.80~0.91], P<0.001).For every 100 meters increase in altitude of workplace, the risk of ocular surface disease increased by 5% ( HR[95% CI]: 1.04[1.01~1.07], P=0.006).Decreased blood oxygen saturation ( HR[95% CI]: 1.09[1.02~1.16], P=0.007), hearing pulmonary dry rales (hazard ratio ( HR)[95% CI]: 1.53[1.12~2.09], P=0.007) and heart murmurs ( HR[95% CI]: 4.44[1.43~13.83], P=0.010) were associated with ocular surface disease.

Conclusions  The incidence of ocular surface disease in personnel engaged in electric grid construction at high altitudes should not be ignored.High working altitude, low residence altitude, pulmonary dry rales, heart murmurs and low blood oxygen saturation are factors associated with the incidence of ocular surface disease.

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