Occupational hazards correlates of ocular disorders in Ghanaian fisheries


https://doi.org/10.4081/hls.2016.5482
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2016)
Submitted: 9 August 2015
Accepted: 19 October 2016
Published: 21 December 2016
Cataract, Artisanal fishing, Fishmongers, Atlantic Ocean, Pterygium
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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.

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
Kyei, S., Owusu-Ansah, A., Boadi-Kusi, S. B., Abbey, D. N., & Abu, E. K. (2016). Occupational hazards correlates of ocular disorders in Ghanaian fisheries. Healthcare in Low-Resource Settings, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/hls.2016.5482

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