Atukunda Immaculate, Lusobya Rebecca Claire, Ali Samia Hersi, Mukisa John, Otiti-Sengeri Juliet, Ateenyi-Agaba C
Department of Ophthalmology, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, and Mulago National Referral Hospital, P.0.BOX, 7072, Kampala, Uganda.
Clinical Epidemiology Unit, School of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
BMC Ophthalmol. 2019 Jul 10;19(1):145. doi: 10.1186/s12886-019-1150-x.
Welders are at an increased risk of eye disorders as a result of their occupation, leading to enormous vocational and economic consequences. With limited published studies among welders in low resource settings, we sought to determine the prevalence, pattern and factors associated with ocular disorders among small-scale welders in Katwe, Kampala.
In a field-based cross-sectional study, we recruited 343 small-scale welders. Simple random sampling was done to select the study participants. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect information on demographics, ocular, general history, systemic and ocular examination. The proportion of small-scale welders with ocular disorders (defined as any abnormal finding on eye examination) was determined. The bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out, using logistic regression methods at a level of significance of 0.05.
The mean age of the participants was 36 years (SD ± 12). The overall prevalence of ocular disorders was found to be 59.9%. The common ocular disorders included conjunctiva disorders (32%) and presbyopia (27%). There was a statistically significant relationship between females (OR = 4.279, P-value = 0.007), age 35 and above (OR = 4.244, P-value< 0.001), history of foreign body removal (OR = 1.677, P-value = 0.041), and ocular disorders.
There is a high prevalence of ocular disorders among small-scale welders. Conjunctiva disorders, presbyopia and myopia were the commonest. Being female, age 35 and above and foreign body removal, were significantly associated with ocular disorders among welders. Policies should be put in place to ensure all welders use proper personal -protective equipment (welding helmets), and also receive regular eye checkup and health education.
由于职业原因，焊工患眼部疾病的风险增加，这会导致巨大的职业和经济后果。鉴于在资源匮乏地区针对焊工开展的已发表研究有限，我们试图确定坎帕拉卡特韦地区小规模焊工眼部疾病的患病率、类型以及相关因素。
在一项基于现场的横断面研究中，我们招募了343名小规模焊工。采用简单随机抽样的方法选取研究参与者。使用经过预测试的问卷收集有关人口统计学、眼部、一般病史、全身和眼部检查的信息。确定患有眼部疾病的小规模焊工比例（定义为眼部检查有任何异常发现）。采用逻辑回归方法进行双变量和多变量分析，显著性水平为0.05。
参与者的平均年龄为36岁（标准差±12）。发现眼部疾病的总体患病率为59.9%。常见的眼部疾病包括结膜疾病（32%）和老花眼（27%）。女性（比值比=4.279，P值=0.007）、35岁及以上（比值比=4.244，P值<0.001）、有异物取出史（比值比=1.677，P值=0.041）与眼部疾病之间存在统计学上的显著关系。
小规模焊工中眼部疾病的患病率很高。结膜疾病、老花眼和近视最为常见。女性、35岁及以上以及有异物取出史与焊工的眼部疾病显著相关。应制定政策，确保所有焊工使用适当的个人防护设备（焊接头盔），并定期接受眼部检查和健康教育。
