Prevalence of common eye conditions and their predisposing factors among carpenters in kampala city.

Abstract

Introduction: Occupational ocular trauma is an important cause of preventive vision loss and constitute a public health problem worldwide. Like other occupations, carpenters experience work-related hazards when executing their work and are highly susceptive to many ocular injuries and diseases. Hence this study sought to investigate the common eye diseases and injuries and their predisposing factors among carpenters in Kampala city, findings which will help to reinforce Occupational safety and health requirements of carpentry workers. Methodology: This study was a cross-sectional study carried out in Kampala city and considered 380 carpentry workers who are actively engaged in woodwork. The study employed purposive sampling and simple random sampling methods to select the participants who were interviewed using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Ethical clearance was obtained from Institutional Review Board of Makerere School of Health Sciences, written Informed Consent was signed by a participant and participation was voluntary. Microsoft Excel was used to analyze the data collected which was summarized into tables, graphs and pie-charts. Results: A total of 380 carpenters participated in the study. Majority were aged 18-24 years 149 (39.25), had a secondary level of education 248 (65.3%) and had worked as carpenters for more than 3 years 231 (60.8%). Half of the respondents 198 (52.98%) reported to have ever gotten an eye injury while at work. After a full eye checkup, 248 (65.3%) carpenters were found to have a normal vision while 232 (35.7%) were found with at least one eye condition/abnormality. The common eye conditions were presbyopia 66 (17.4%), hyperopia 50 (13.2%), allergic conjunctivitis 21 (11.8%) and pterygium 21 (5.5%). Among the 232 carpenters found to have an eye condition/disease, more than half 146 (62.9%) were working 7 days a week and 11-13 hours a day 118 (50.9%). Majority of the respondents were not using PED at workplace 127 (54.7%). Conclusion: The prevalence of occupational injuries and eye diseases among carpenters in Uganda is so high. Presbyopia, hyperopia, allergic conjunctivitis and pterygium are the common eye diseases in carpenters. However, most eye injuries and diseases are due to avoidable causes mainly long hours of work and inability to use protective eye equipment. Regulatory bodies should reinforce the occupational safety and health act of Uganda (2006) which requires all employers to provide suitable protective equipment to all workers they are employing and should ensure they are used when at work.