Ocular health among industrial workers: a prevalence study of foreign body injury, refractive error, dry eye, pterygium and pingueculae
Main Article Content
Keywords
Dry eye, occupational health, pingueculae, pterygium, wounds, injuries
Abstract
Background: Workplaces play a critical role in developing ocular diseases, owing to the risk of accidents. This study aimed to evaluate the ocular health of industrial workers by determining the prevalence of foreign body injury, refractive error, dry eye, and pterygium/pingueculae, as well as the factors influencing these diseases. Methods: This study involved on-site examinations of workers from an industrial area hosting marble processing factories and metal sectors. Data such as refractive error, foreign body injury-related corneal nephelium, pterygium/pingueculae presence, and Schirmer test-assisted dry eye evaluation were all collected. Results: The average age of workers was 35.78±10.05 years, with a female-to-male ratio of 20:220. The majority of workers had completed primary school (56.3%), smoked >1 cigarette/day (57.6%), and did not use any assistive devices for bodily functions (88.3%). On average, working hours/week were 55.07±8.79, and working years were 5.99±7.00. Dry eyes were found in 31 (22%), and 35 (34%) marble and metal workers, respectively (p=0.042). 11 (7.9%) marble workers and 29 (28%) metal workers had foreign body ocular injury-related corneal nephelium (p=0.0001). Furthermore, pterygium/pingueculae were revealed in 17 marble workers (12.3%) and three metal workers (3%) (p=0.009). Conclusions: Ocular health is essential, and routine ocular health screening in industrial workers, as well as workplace safety measures, should be implemented to prevent potential occupational accidents.
References
2. Bourne RRA, Flaxman SR, Braithwaite T, et al. Magnitude, temporal trends, and projections of the global prevalence of blindness and distance and near vision impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Heal. 2017;5(9):e888-e897. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30293-0
3. Rahi JS, Peckham CS, Cumberland PM. Visual impairment due to undiagnosed refractive error in working age adults in Britain. Br J Ophthalmol. 2008;92(9):1190-1194. doi:10.1136/bjo.2007.133454
4. Gobba F, Dall’Olio E, Modenese A, De Maria M, Campi L, Cavallini G. Work-related eye ınjuries: a relevant health problem. Main epidemiological data from a highly-ındustrialized area of Northern Italy. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(6):604. doi:10.3390/ijerph14060604
5. McCall BP, Horwitz IB, Taylor OA. Occupational eye injury and risk reduction: Kentucky workers’ compensation claim analysis 1994-2003. Inj Prev. 2009;15(3):176-182. doi:10.1136/ip.2008.020024
6. Zghal-Mokni I, Nacef L, Kaoueche M, et al. Epidemiology of work-related eye injuries. Tunis Med. 2007;85(7):576-579. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18064990.
7. Cao H, Li L, Zhang M. Epidemiology of patients hospitalized for ocular trauma in the Chaoshan Region of China, 2001–2010. Wedrich A, ed. PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e48377. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048377
8. Pandita A, Merriman M. Ocular trauma epidemiology: 10-year retrospective study. N Z Med J. 2012;125(1348):61-69. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22282278.
9. Bazeer S, Jansonius N, Snieder H, Hammond C, Vehof J. The relationship between occupation and dry eye. Ocul Surf. 2019;17(3):484-490. doi:10.1016/j.jtos.2019.04.004
10. Lee J, Kim U-J, Lee Y, et al. Sunlight exposure and eye disorders in an economically active population: data from the KNHANES 2008-2012. Ann Occup Environ Med. 2021;33. doi:10.35371/aoem.2021.33.e24
11. Della Vecchia E, Modenese A, Loney T, et al. Risk of cataract in health care workers exposed to ionizing radiation: a systematic review. Med Lav. 2020;111(4):269-284. doi:10.23749/mdl.v111i4.9045
12. Hashemi H, Fotouhi A, Yekta A, Pakzad R, Ostadimoghaddam H, Khabazkhoob M. Global and regional estimates of prevalence of refractive errors: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Curr Ophthalmol. 2018;30(1):3-22. doi:10.1016/j.joco.2017.08.009
13. Heinrich HW. Industrial Accident Prevention: A Scientific Approach. NY, USA: McGraw-Hill; 1941.
14. Peate WF. Work-related eye injuries and illnesses. Am Fam Physician. 2007;75(7):1017-1022. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17427615.
15. Serinken M, Turkcuer I, Cetin E, Yilmaz A, Elicabuk H, Karcioglu O. Causes and characteristics of work-related eye injuries in western Turkey. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2013;61(9):497. doi:10.4103/0301-4738.119435
16. Viso E, Gude F, Rodríguez-Ares MT. Prevalence of pinguecula and pterygium in a general population in Spain. Eye. 2011;25(3):350-357. doi:10.1038/eye.2010.204
17. Ovenseri-Ogbomo G, Ocansey S, Abu E, Kyei S, Boadi-Kusi S. Oculo-visual findings among ındustrial mine workers at Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa. Ophthalmol Eye Dis. 2012;4:OED.S9204. doi:10.4137/OED.S9204
18. Modenese A, Gobba F. Occupational exposure to solar radiation at different latitudes and pterygium: a systematic review of the last 10 years of scientific literature. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2018;15(1):37. Doi:10.3390/ijerph15010037
19. Wang M, Cui J, Shan G, et al. Prevalence and risk factors of refractive error: a cross-sectional study in Han and Yi adults in Yunnan, China. BMC Ophthalmol. 2019;19(1):33. Doi:10.1186/s12886-019-1042-0
20. Paulsen AJ, Cruickshanks KJ, Fischer ME, et al. Dry eye in the Beaver Dam Offspring Study: Prevalence, risk factors, and health-related quality of life. Am J Ophthalmol. 2014;157(4):799-806. Doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2013.12.023
21. Wolkoff P. Dry eye symptoms in offices and deteriorated work performance – A perspective. Build Environ. 2020;172:106704. Doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106704
22. The Epidemiology of Dry Eye Disease: Report of the epidemiology subcommittee of the international dry eye workShop (2007). Ocul Surf. 2007;5(2):93-107. Doi:10.1016/S1542-0124(12)70082-4
23. Courtin R, Pereira B, Naughton G, et al. Prevalence of dry eye disease in visual display terminal workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open. 2016;6(1):e009675. Doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009675
24. Khorshed EAE, El-Naggar SA, El-Gohary SS, Awad AMB, Ahmed AS. Occupational ocular health problems among marble workers at Shaq El Tho'ban industrial area in Egypt. Environ Sci Pollut Res. January 2022. Doi:10.1007/s11356-021-18410-5
Article Sidebar
Article Details
How to Cite
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Reproductions with commercial intent will require written permission and payment of royalties.
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
