Pingueculae and pterygia in motorcycle policemen

[Purpose] Pinguecula and pterygium are speculated to be associated with corneal and conjunctival microtrauma from exposure to sunlight and/or dust. Occupational motorcycle driving is suspected to be associated with such exposure, so we investigated the prevalence of pingueculae and pterygia in motorcycle policemen. [Method] Slit lamp finding obtained by periodic eye checkup for policemen (783 motorcycle policemen and 207 control indoor workers) together with questionnaire were used for analyses. All pingueculae and pterygia were diagnosed under the definite criteria. [Results] The overall prevalence of pingueculae was 590/1,566 eyes (37.7%) among motorcycle policemen against 127/414 eyes (30.6%) among the indoor workers (p<0.01). Besides, with increasing age, the prevalence of pingueculae in the motorcycle policemen clearly exceeded those among the indoor controls. The prevalence of pterygia were very small to be analysed. [Conclusion] Our results exhibited a significant relationship between occupational motorcycle driving and the prevalence of pingueculae. Thus it is strongly suggested that they should wear eye protection equipments (goggles, face shield and so on) to prevent from developing these lesions.