AGE GROUP AND GENDER DISTRIBUTION OF NIGER DELTA RESIDENTS, WITH BLACK SOOT-INDUCED EYE DISEASES, IN SOME EYE CLINICS IN THE NIGER DELTA, BETWEEN 2017 AND 2021.

*Ihekaire Desmond Eberechukwu., Ozims S. J. and Adogu P. O.

ABSTRACT

This retrospective study compared the relationship between black soot and theprevalence of oculo-visual diseases among the residents of the Niger Delta Region,Nigeria, between 2017 and 2021. The study involved 4500 subjects (residents), 100from each of the nine states of the Niger Delta, spanning the five year (2017 – 2021)period under study. The study population comprised males and females, betweenthe ages of 11 and 60. The research design was anchored on document analysis,which was based on the clinical records of residents (patients) who visited theselected eye clinics in the capital cities of the Nine States of the Niger Delta region,with little or no history of such diseases prior to the period under study. The studyidentified some soot-induced eye diseases, like allergic conjunctivitis, cornealforeign body, dry eye/irritation, cataract, Pterygium and glaucoma, and determinedtheir prevalence across the Nine States of the Niger Delta Region. It also determinedthe influence of age, gender and occupation on the oculo-visual impact of black sooton the Niger Delta residents. Occupation was categorized into indoor and outdoorworkers for better organization and presentation. The data for this study werebased on the clinical records of the residents (patients) who visited the selected eyeclinics during the period under study. Percentages, arithmetic mean and standarddeviation were used to determine the levels of the black soot-induced eye diseases.The sample t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine thesignificance of average incidence of black soot-induced oculo-visual diseases, whilethe Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) method was used to determine themost prevalent black soot-induced eye disease(s) and the age group that was mostaffected. The findings showed a significant prevalence of black soot-induced eyediseases for all age groups, gender and occupation (p  0.05). In all, AllergicConjunctivitis (44.39%) has the highest prevalence of all black soot-induced eyediseases. Age group 21 – 30 was the highest affected by black soot-induced eyediseases with a percentage of 25.02, followed by age groups 11 – 20 (23.84%) and31 – 40 (21.21%), respectively. Males were the highest affected by black sootinducedeye diseases with a percentage of 52.97. On the contrary, there is nosignificant difference in the effect of black soot induced eye diseases between maleand female, across the Niger Delta States (p = 0.104 show that there is no significant difference in the incidence of black soot induced eyediseases across the nine Niger Delta. In other words, the incidence of black sootinducedeye diseases across the nine Niger Delta states is virtually the same for allindependent variables. Government failure to meet public demand for petroleumproduct, poverty and unemployment facilitate youth involvement in artisanalrefinery activities, which caused the black soot pollution. It is important thatgovernment takes decisive actions to stop illegal oil business to prevent furtherpollution of Niger Delta environment, besides encouraging citizens to embracehealthy habits of personal hygiene and consumption of antioxidant rich fruits toneutralize the harmful effects of the soot.

Keywords:

age, gender, air pollution; black soot; eye diseases Niger Delta.

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