Ajayi Iyiade A, Adeoye Adenike O, Bekibele Charles O, Onakpoya Oluwatoyin H, Omotoye O J
Department of Ophthalmology, University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.
Ann Afr Med. 2011 Oct-Dec;10(4):294-9. doi: 10.4103/1596-3519.87047.
To determine the level of awareness and practice of use of protective eye devices among welders in Ile-Ife.
This is a cross-sectional descriptive study of 405 consenting welders. A pretested proforma was utilized to obtain information on sociodemographic characteristics, as well as awareness and use of protective eye device.
The age of the respondents ranged from 16 to 80 years. The mean age was 39 ± 13 years. A large proportion (315, 78%) of the welders was aged between 21 and 50 years. The youngest group aged ≤ 20 years accounted for 15 (4%) of all welders, while the oldest group aged > 60 years accounted for 21 (5.2%). 402 were males (99.3%) and three were females (0.7%). Three hundred thirty-six (83%) of the welders had practiced for 6 years and above. There was a high level of awareness of protective eye devices among the welders (367, 90.6%), being higher among arc welders compared with gas welders (P < 0.001). Less than half (186, 45.9%) of the welders possessed protective eye devices. Of these, only 39 (9.6%) made use of the devices always. Some of the reasons for not using the protective eye devices include discomfort and poor visibility (56, 13.6%) and inadequate appreciation of the necessity to wear it (49, 12.1%).
The findings of this study suggest that a significant proportion of welders in Ile-Ife were not utilizing protective eye device. Health education and awareness campaigns about the importance and benefits of utilizing protective eye devices are recommended.
确定伊费地区焊工对防护眼部装置的认知水平及使用情况。
这是一项对405名同意参与的焊工进行的横断面描述性研究。使用经过预测试的表格获取社会人口学特征以及防护眼部装置的认知和使用情况的信息。
受访者年龄在16至80岁之间。平均年龄为39±13岁。很大一部分（315名，78%）焊工年龄在21至50岁之间。最年轻的≤20岁组占所有焊工的15名（4%），而最年长的>60岁组占21名（5.2%）。402名是男性（99.3%），3名是女性（0.7%）。336名（83%）焊工从业6年及以上。焊工对防护眼部装置的认知水平较高（367名，90.6%），电弧焊工的认知水平高于气焊工（P<0.001）。不到一半（186名，45.9%）的焊工拥有防护眼部装置。其中，只有39名（9.6%）总是使用这些装置。不使用防护眼部装置的一些原因包括不适和能见度差（56名，13.6%）以及对佩戴必要性认识不足（49名，12.1%）。
本研究结果表明，伊费地区相当一部分焊工未使用防护眼部装置。建议开展关于使用防护眼部装置的重要性和益处的健康教育及宣传活动。
