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Background: Post-operative trichiasis (PTT) is a major challenge following corrective eyelid surgery for trachomatous trichiasis. There is a scarcity of research on post-operative trichiasis in Southern Ethiopia, particularly in the study area. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of post-operative trichiasis in patients who underwent corrective surgery., Objective: To assess the prevalence of post-operative trichiasis in the Gamo Zone in Southern Ethiopia in 2021., Methods: A descriptive community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Dita district, Southern Ethiopia. The data were collected between 2014 and 2020. Three Qualified trachoma trichiasis (TT) graders working on a trachoma impact survey were recruited for this study. Eye examinations were performed by graders on all study subjects using a loupe to identify post-operative trichiasis. All patients underwent upper eyelid surgery only. A systematic sampling technique was used to select 459 participants from the TT Surgery Logbook., Results: Of the 459 study participants, more than three quarter 353 (76.9%) were female. The mean age of the study subjects was 48.38 years with a standard deviation of +-10.4. A total of 10 upper eyelids (7 bilateral and 3 left upper eyelids) underwent PTT. The prevalence of post-operative trichiasis in the study area was 2.2% (95% CI: 0.9-3.5%. Fourteen (4.7%) unoperated upper eyelids developed trichiasis infection. A few patients had left and right lower eyelid trichiasis (6/459 [1.3%] and 3/459 [0.7%], respectively)., Conclusion and Recommendation: The prevalence of post-operative trichiasis in the study area was similar to that recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation range. Trachoma trichiasis was observed on the lower and upper unoperated eyelids of the study participants. Therefore, sustainable interventions should be considered in the study area for all the components of the SAFE strategy, particularly on S component., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2023 Churko et al.)

Background: Trachoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world affecting the poorest communities. Despite many interventions undertaken on prevention and control for trachoma, Ethiopia has failed to achieve the 2020 elimination goal., Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude, practice and its associated factors toward trachoma infection among people living in Arba Minch Zuria district Gamo zone, Southern Ethiopia., Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2019 to June 2020. Data were collected using a pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire from 796 randomly selected individuals. Epi Info version 7 was used to enter and clean the data and exported to SPSS V20 for analysis. A multivariable logistic regression analysis model was fitted to identify factors associated with the outcome variables., Findings: Among 796 interviewed participants, 611 (76.8%) had inadequate knowledge toward trachoma infection and 244 (30.7%) had unfavorable attitude. Individuals who had no formal education (AOR=0.365, 95%CI: 0.212-0.626) and primary education (AOR=0.58, 95%CI: 0.35-0.962) were negatively associated with adequate knowledge towards trachoma infection. Being a farmer (AOR=0.063, 95%CI: 0.008-0.52), merchant (AOR=0.022, 95%CI: 0.003-0.194), student (AOR=0.026, 95%CI: 0.003-0.225) or housewife (AOR=0.03, 95%CI: 0.004-0.256) were negatively associated with adequate knowledge. Those study subjects whose wealth index were lowest (AOR=0.49, 95%CI: 0.27-0.878), second (AOR=0.38, 95%CI: 0.21-0.69) and middle (AOR=0.36, 95%CI: 0.199-0.658) percentiles negatively associated with adequate knowledge. A short distance to fetch water (AOR=2.53, 95%CI: 1.18-5.415) was positively associated with adequate knowledge about trachoma infection. Environmental cleanliness (AOR=2.224, 95%CI: 1.518-3.257), being male (AOR=1.848, 95%CI: 1.332-2.565) and distance from home to health facility (AOR=1.845, 95%CI: 1.308-2.600) were significantly associated with attitude status., Conclusion: Considerable numbers of people have unfavorable attitude and inadequate knowledge about trachoma infection. Awareness creation through community mobilization and sensitization should be strengthened., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2021 Churko et al.)