Abstract
Purpose: :
to evaluate the ocular condition of employees in a brazilian ironmaster industry.
Methods: :
a prospective study was conducted in 2516 employees from an ironmaster brazilian industry located in São Paulo City, Brazil. All the employees from this industry were considered elegible to participate in a periodic ophthalmic trial, performed every two years in order to evaluate their visual conditions. This trial were done in the industry by a team of ophthalmologists and nurses in a mobile clinical ophthalmic unit during 48 hours. A questionnaire was applied by nurses with questions about personal identification, ophthalmic complains and systemic or ocular antecedents. Visual acuity (with and without spectables) and Ishihara test were performed in every individual. A complete ophthalmic evaluation (slit lamp examination, fundoscopy, tonometry and refractometry) was done when the visual acuity was worse than 20/30 or individuals with ocular complain. Glasses were prescribed when necessary. The employees received orientation concerning the detected problems. Excel software was used for data analysis according to the frequency of occurrence.
Results: :
most of the evaluated employees, in this industry, was male (62.5%), ageing from 20 to 29 year old (41%) and 30 to 39 year old (37%). Visual acuity was normal in 95.5% of the rigth eyes and 95.6% of the left eyes. The majority of the individuals (84%) did not need to use spectables. Fifty- five percent of the employees were considered as normal eyes carriers, 13.6% presented presbyopia, 10% presented myopic astigmatism, 7.7% hyperopic astigmatism. Visual impairment or blindness were present in 1% of the studied individuals and between of them, the main causes were: myopic astigmatism (70%), myopia (16%) and amblyopia (6%).
Conclusions: :
the results of the performed study, in this industry, showed that most of the studied population presented a normal ophthalmic condition. There is an assumption that some main observed factors should contribute for this results as: the predominant young age group and the local where the trial took place for this study, a private ironmaster industry, where a good visual acuity is required. Periodic ophthalmic exams also help for prevention and early detection of ocular pathologies avoiding future low permanent vision.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: treatment/prevention assessment/controlled clinical trials • visual acuity • quality of life