Table 2. Four-year clinical characteristics of participants.
| Characteristics | (A) Surgery Arm (579) | (B) Epilation Arm (572) | (C) Epilation-Only (383) | (D) Epilation-to-Surgery (189) | A v C | C v D | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | p-value | p-value | ||
| Lash Number | |||||||||||
| Median (IQR) | 0 | (0–0) | 0 | (0–1) | 0 | (0–2) | 0 | (0–0) | <0.001 | <0.001 | |
| Trichiasis Distribution | |||||||||||
| None | 548 | (94.7%) | 371 | (64.9%) | 207 | (54.0%) | 164 | (86.8%) | <0.001 | <0.001 | |
| 1–2 lashes | 27 | (4.7%) | 133 | (23.3%) | 113 | (29.5%) | 20 | (10.6%) | |||
| 3–4 lashes | 4 | (0.7%) | 41 | (7.2%) | 37 | (9.7%) | 4 | (2.1%) | |||
| 5+ lashes | 0 | - | 27 | (4.7%) | 26 | (6.8%) | 1 | (0.5%) | |||
| Lash Location | |||||||||||
| No lashes | 548 | (94.7%) | 371 | (64.9%) | 207 | (54.0%) | 164 | (86.8%) | <0.001 | <0.001 | |
| Corneal±Peripheral | 21 | (3.6%) | 185 | (32.3%) | 162 | (42.3%) | 23 | (12.2%) | |||
| Peripheral | 10 | (1.7%) | 16 | (2.8%) | 14 | (3.7%) | 2 | (1.0%) | |||
| Entropion Grade | |||||||||||
| 0 | 559 | (96.6%) | 332 | (58.0%) | 159 | (41.5%) | 173 | (91.5%) | <0.001 | <0.001 | |
| 1 | 14 | (2.4%) | 144 | (25.2%) | 133 | (34.7%) | 11 | (5.8%) | |||
| 2 | 6 | (1.0%) | 92 | (16.1%) | 89 | (22.7%) | 5 | (2.7%) | |||
| 3 | 0 | - | 4 | (0.7%) | 4 | (1.0%) | 0 | - | |||
| 4 | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | - | |||
| Conjunctivalisation | |||||||||||
| 0 | 192 | (33.2%) | 61 | (10.7%) | 16 | (4.2%) | 45 | (23.9%) | <0.001 | <0.001 | |
| 1 | 71 | (12.3%) | 25 | (4.4%) | 6 | (1.6%) | 19 | (10.1%) | |||
| 2 | 130 | (22.5%) | 53 | (9.3%) | 15 | (3.9%) | 38 | (20.2%) | |||
| 3 | 186 | (32.1%) | 432 | (75.7%) | 346 | (90.3%) | 86 | (45.7%) | |||
| Visual Acuity | |||||||||||
| -0.2–0.3 | 229 | (39.6%) | 200 | (35.0%) | 118 | (30.9%) | 82 | (43.4%) | 0.006 | 0.028 | |
| 0.3–0.7 | 223 | (38.6%) | 201 | (35.2%) | 142 | (37.2%) | 59 | (31.2%) | |||
| 0.7–1.1 | 49 | (8.5%) | 68 | (11.9%) | 52 | (13.6%) | 16 | (8.5%) | |||
| 1.1–2.0 | 13 | (2.2%) | 15 | (2.6%) | 12 | (3.1%) | 3 | (1.6%) | |||
| CF/HM/PL/NPL | 64 | (11.1%) | 87 | (15.2%) | 58 | (15.2%) | 29 | (15.3%) | |||
| Not measurable | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | 0 | - | |||
| Corneal Opacity | |||||||||||
| CC0 | 293 | (51.1%) | 273 | (48.2%) | 177 | (46.8%) | 96 | (51.1%) | 0.065 | 0.746 | |
| CC1 | 203 | (35.4%) | 185 | (32.7%) | 125 | (33.1%) | 60 | (31.9%) | |||
| CC2 | 71 | (12.4%) | 100 | (17.7%) | 70 | (18.5%) | 30 | (16.0%) | |||
| CC3 | 7 | (1.2%) | 8 | (1.4%) | 6 | (1.6%) | 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-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 the lash number differences, which were calculated by the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. 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.