Induced Myopia among Readymade Garment (RGM) Workers

Abstract

Background: To determine the induced refractive error among the readymade garment workers. Those who are working in the knitting section and those who are working other than the knitting and computer section. Methods: It was a prospective cross-sectional analytic study among 600 workers in 2 factories at Joydevpur, Gazipur, Bangladesh on January 2020. Group: A comprises 300 workers who were working at knitting section for a minimum of six hours a day and 5 days a week. Group: B comprises another 300 workers who were appointed for loading-unloading, care-taker, driver and security guard also. Prevalence of refractive error in two groups was compared. Results: The mean age of participants in group: A was 26.61 ± 4.99 (CI 95%, 26.04 ± 27.18) and in group: B was 28.51 ± 5.69 (95% CI 27.86 ± 29.15). Prevalence of refractive error between two groups was 52 and 28.3 respectively. The chi-square statistic is 44.9775. The p-value is <0.00001. Significant at p < 0.05. Strong positive correlation shows in Pearson’s correlation between time duration of knitting and refractive error (R is: 0.7619). Visual acuity between two groups chi-square statistic is 33.1866. The p-value is <0.00001. Significant at p < 0.05. Conclusion: Knitting workers at readymade garment (RGM) are more prone to develop late onset myopia than other workers in the same premises.