Visual acuity disorder and its relationship with work and extra‑work factors in workers of a marketplace in a Colombian municipality, 2017-2018

Abstract

Introduction: The loss of visual acuity represents a public health problem of interest that also affects the living and working conditions of informal workers; however, this is still a poorly explored topic. Objectives: To identify the prevalence of loss of visual acuity in workers in the marketplace of a Colombian municipality. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a primary source of information from a census of 194 workers from a marketplace, to whom an assisted survey was applied and an occupational medical evaluation was carried out. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyzes were performed. Results: Study population was predominantly female, 60.8% had a partner, more than half were between 14 and 44 years old, 78.2% of them worked > 8 hours a day, 9.2% had a diagnosis of diabetes, 37.7% of arterial hypertension, and 15.2% had a visual acuity disorder. Greater loss of visual acuity in older workers (prevalence ratio =21.07, confidence interval 5,15-86.17), in men (prevalence ratio = 1.65, confidence interval 1.21-2.25), in those who perceived that they had loss of visual acuity (prevalence ratio =2.08, confidence interval 1.45-2.99) and blurred vision (prevalence ratio =2.74, confidence interval 1.39-5.39) and in those who had arterial hypertension (prevalence ratio =2.28, confidence interval 1.25-4.17). Conclusions: Actions are necessary from the municipal health and labor authorities and from national programs, so as to allow workers and their families to take responsibility for individual activities to promote visual health and to participate in collective actions to advance in the modification of the conditions that make it difficult for them to have good visual health.