Table 1. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of participants seen at four years.
| Characteristics | (A) Surgery Arm (579) | (B) Epilation Arm (572) | (C) Epilation-Only (383) | (D) Epilation-to-Surgery (189) | A v B | A v C | C v D | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | p-value | p-value | p-value | ||
| Gender. female | 403 | (69.6%) | 364 | (63.6%) | 243 | (63.2%) | 122 | (64.6%) | 0.032 | 0.038 | 0.750 | |
| Age, mean years (SD) | 49.0 | (14.0) | 50.0 | (13.9) | 51.8 | (13.5) | 46.4 | (14.1) | 0.219 | 0.002 | <0.001 | |
| Illiterate | 517 | (89.3%) | 517 | (90.4%) | 344 | (89.8%) | 173 | (91.5%) | 0.540 | 0.795 | 0.512 | |
| Lash Number | ||||||||||||
| Median (IQR) | 1.0 | (1–2) | 1.0 | (1–2) | 1.0 | (1–2) | 1.0 | (1–3) | 0.376 | 0.709 | 0.008 | |
| Trichiasis Distribution | ||||||||||||
| None (epilating) | 106 | (18.3%) | 101 | (17.7%) | 67 | (17.5%) | 34 | (18.0%) | 0.632 | 0.481 | <0.001 | |
| 1–2 lashes | 360 | (62.2%) | 346 | (60.5%) | 251 | (65.5%) | 95 | (50.3%) | ||||
| 3–4 lashes | 94 | (16.2%) | 109 | (19.1%) | 58 | (15.1%) | 51 | (27.0%) | ||||
| 5 lashes | 19 | (3.3%) | 16 | (2.8%) | 7 | (1.8%) | 9 | (4.8%) | ||||
| Lash Location | ||||||||||||
| No lashes | 106 | (18.3%) | 101 | (17.7%) | 67 | (17.5%) | 34 | (18.0%) | 0.564 | 0.064 | 0.005 | |
| Corneal ± Peripheral | 422 | (72.9%) | 410 | (71.7%) | 264 | (68.9%) | 146 | (77.2%) | ||||
| Peripheral | 51 | (8.8%) | 61 | (10.7%) | 52 | (13.6%) | 9 | (4.8%) | ||||
| Entropion Grade | ||||||||||||
| 0 | 244 | (42.1%) | 265 | (46.3%) | 200 | (52.2%) | 65 | (34.4%) | 0.340 | 0.020 | 0.001 | |
| 1 | 226 | (39.0%) | 216 | (37.8%) | 128 | (33.4%) | 88 | (46.6%) | ||||
| 2 | 106 | (18.3%) | 90 | (15.7%) | 54 | (14.1%) | 36 | (19.0%) | ||||
| 3 | 3 | (0.5%) | 1 | (0.2%) | 1 | (0.3%) | 0 | - | ||||
| 4 | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | ||||
| Conjunctivalisation | ||||||||||||
| 0 | 5 | (0.9%) | 5 | (0.9%) | 5 | (1.3%) | 0 | - | 0.455 | 0.311 | 0.288 | |
| 1 | 15 | (2.6%) | 22 | (3.8%) | 17 | (4.4%) | 5 | (2.7%) | ||||
| 2 | 148 | (25.7%) | 129 | (22.5%) | 87 | (22.6%) | 42 | (22.2%) | ||||
| 3 | 411 | (70.9%) | 416 | (72.7%) | 274 | (72.7%) | 142 | (75.1%) | ||||
| Visual Acuity | ||||||||||||
| -0.2–0.3 | 224 | (38.9%) | 192 | (33.6%) | 115 | (30.0%) | 77 | (41.0%) | 0.126 | 0.007 | 0.024 | |
| 0.3–0.7 | 245 | (42.5%) | 243 | (42.6%) | 166 | (43.3%) | 77 | (41.0%) | ||||
| 0.7–1.1 | 66 | (11.5%) | 74 | (13.0%) | 54 | (14.1%) | 20 | (10.6%) | ||||
| 1.1–2.0 | 15 | (2.6%) | 23 | (4.0%) | 15 | (3.9%) | 8 | (4.3%) | ||||
| CF/HM/PL/NPL | 26 | (4.5%) | 39 | (6.8%) | 33 | (8.6%) | 6 | (3.2%) | ||||
| Not measurable a | 3 | - | 1 | - | 0 | - | 1 | - | ||||
| Corneal opacity | ||||||||||||
| CC0 | 357 | (61.7%) | 311 | (54.4%) | 213 | (55.6%) | 98 | (51.9%) | 0.008 | 0.025 | 0.724 | |
| CC1 | 127 | (21.9%) | 133 | (23.3%) | 84 | (21.9%) | 49 | (25.9%) | ||||
| CC2 | 85 | (14.7%) | 123 | (21.5%) | 83 | (21.7%) | 40 | (21.2%) | ||||
| CC3 | 10 | (1.7%) | 5 | (0.9%) | 3 | (0.8%) | 2 | (1.1%) | ||||
The participants were subdivided into the following groups: (A) Surgery Arm, (B) Epilation Arm, (C) Epilation-Only, and (D) Epilation-to-Surgery. The following comparisons were made: Surgery Arm to Epilation Arm (A v B), Surgery Arm to Epilation-Only (A v C) and Epilation-Only to Epilation-to-Surgery (C v D).
P-values were calculated by X2, with the exception of those for age and lash number differences, which were calculated by t-test and Wilcoxon rank-sum test, respectively.
CF, count fingers; HM, hand movements; PL, perception of light; NPL, no perception of light. CC0 to CC3: WHO Detailed Trachoma Grading System for corneal opacification.
a Baseline VA was not measured in 2 people from those not seen at 4 years and 4 people from those seen at 4 years.