Prevalence of visual impairment and associated factors among welders in West Shewa Zone Oromia Region

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Visual impairment is one of the major causes of public health problems and is highly devastating in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Visual impairment is associated with a limitation of eye function and the visual system due to various factors that cause poor vision in either one or both eyes. This leads to limitations in all areas of life and, particularly, vision-related quality of life will be compromised. The prevalence and contributing factors of visual impairment among welders have not been well studied in Ethiopia. This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of visual impairment and associated factors among welders in West Shewa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study design was employed among 634 welders at five woredas towns in the West Shewa zone, Oromia, Ethiopia, from September 20 to November 20/2022. A cluster sampling method was used to involve study participants. Interviewer-based structured questionnaires and a Snellen chart were used to collect data from eligible subjects. EPI DATA version 3.1 was used to enter the data, which was then exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Bi-variable and multi-variable logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with visual impairment. The data were presented as an odds ratio (OR) with a 95% CI and the variable associated at P-value<=0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: 634 welders have participated in the study and the mean age of study participants was 29.13+8.06SD. Among the study subjects, 29.34% (95% CI: 26.6-32.3%) of respondents had visual impairment. Factors include training on eye personal protective equipment use (AOR=1.77; 95% CI: 1.21-2.60), working hours per day (2.78, 95% CI: 1.91-4.06), and not using eye personal protective equipment (AOR=1.83, 95%CI: 1.12-2.99) were significantly associated with visual impairment. CONCLUSION: Based on this study, the visual impairment among welders was 29.34%. Factors including the absence of training on eye personal protective equipment used, prolonged working hours per day, and not using eye personal protective equipment were considered as risk factors for visual impairment.