Chalazion incision/excision was found to be more common among patients of male sex and those with rosacea in research presented at the 2022 ARVO meeting.
Chalazion incision/excision was found to be more common among patients of male sex and those with rosacea in research presented at the 2022 ARVO meeting. Photo: Joseph W. Sowka, OD. Click image to enlarge.

More information is needed to better understand the variables associated with chalazion diagnosis and surgical intervention. A recent study analyzed chalazion patients and healthy controls to identify common risk factors, and the researchers presented their findings during the 2022 ARVO annual meeting in Denver.

A large US claims database of 134,959 chalazion patients was compared 1:5 with matched controls (6,878,160). The researchers used multivariate logistic regression to separately identify the variables correlated with diagnosis and surgical excision.

The data revealed that risk factors linked to chalazion diagnosis included female sex, non-white race, Northeast location and smoking. An increased risk of this disease was also associated with conditions that affect the periocular skin and tear film, such as blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction, rosacea and pterygium, as well as several non-ocular inflammatory conditions. These included gastritis, inflammatory bowel disease, sarcoidosis, seborrheic dermatitis and Grave’s disease. Conversely, diabetes and systemic sclerosis reduced the odds of diagnosis.

The likelihood of undergoing surgery for chalazion was increased among male patients as well as those with rosacea. The following variables decreased the odds of surgical intervention: anxiety, diabetes, gastritis, seborrheic dermatitis, Sjögren’s and smoking, according to the ARVO abstract.

“Our results prompt further study of these variables and their relationship to chalazion diagnosis to understand physiology and improve clinical outcomes,” the study authors concluded.

Original abstract content © Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2022.

Kim D, McGeehan B, Briceno C, et al. Demographic variables and systemic comorbidities associated with diagnosis of chalazion and chalazion incision/excision from a US claims database. ARVO 2022 annual meeting.