Original Articles
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2016)
https://doi.org/10.4081/hls.2016.5482

Occupational hazards correlates of ocular disorders in Ghanaian fisheries

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Received: 9 August 2015
Published: 21 December 2016
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Cataract, Artisanal fishing, Fishmongers, Atlantic Ocean, Pterygium

Authors

Samuel Kyei
samdollar2@yahoo.com
Department of Optometry, School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Andrew Owusu-Ansah
Department of Optometry, School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana; Department of Ophthalmology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Samuel Bert Boadi-Kusi
Department of Optometry, School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Dennis Nii Abbey
Department of Optometry, School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Emmanuel Kwasi Abu
Department of Optometry, School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
The study examined the ocular health of agricultural workers in the fisheries sub sector with the aim of establishing a possible correlation between the work place hazards and their ocular health. A multi-stage random sampling (involving 683 subjects, 358 fishmongers and 325 fishers) was employed. Ocular hazards encountered at the work place included seawater, sand or dust, heat, sunrays and smoke. Exposure to these hazards were found to be associated with ocular irritation (P<0.001), tearing (P<0.001), red eye (P<0.001), gritty sensation (P<0.001), blurred distant vision (P=0.001) and blurred near vision (P=0.001). The development of pterygium was associated with the exposure to sunrays (P=0.042) and heat (P=0.001) among fishmongers. Further analysis using multivariate logistic regression indicated exposure to heat as the most important predictive factor for pterygium (OR=1.951, P=0.003). Exposure to seawater was found to be associated with the development of cataract (P=0.022) among fishermen/fishers. Cataract among fishmongers was rather associated with exposure to heat (P=0.005), sunrays (P=0.035) and sand/dust (P=0.002). Exposure to work place hazards is associated with ocular disorders in the fishing industry of Ghana.

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Samuel Kyei, Department of Optometry, School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast
Assistant Lecturer, Department of Optometry

How to Cite



Occupational hazards correlates of ocular disorders in Ghanaian fisheries. (2016). Healthcare in Low-Resource Settings, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/hls.2016.5482