Prevalence of visual and posture related symptoms of computer vision syndrome among computer user workers of Ethiopian Roads Authority
Abstract
Background: Computer Vision Syndrome is a collective term for computer related eye, visual problems and ergonomic disorder resulted from prolonged computer usage in a maladaptive manner. Almost 90% of computer users suffered from computer vision syndrome; posing in reduced quality of life and work productivity. This study aims to describe the prevalence of visual and posture related symptoms of computer vision syndromes among workers of Ethiopian Roads Authority.
Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted on Ethiopian Roads Authority in Addis Ababa to assess visual and posture related symptoms of computer vision syndromes from January to February 2018. Simple random sampling technique methods were used to select the study participants. The data was collected by self-administered questionnaire and edited, coded and entered by SPSS version 25. The frequency, percent, cross-tabulation, charts, Chi-square and binary logistic regression models were applied. The data was analyzed by using the SPSS version 25.
Results: A total of 272 workers were in the study from Ethiopian Roads Authority; 57% of the respondents were males, whereas; 43% were females. The 12-months prevalence of computer vision syndrome in this study population was 81.3%. The most frequently self-reported symptoms of computer vision syndrome were eye fatigue (51.1%), back pain (47.4%), burning eye (42.6%), headache (40.8%), neck pain (31.2%), eye irritation (25.4%), double vision (25%) and drying eye (20.6%). The results by binary logistic regression model showed that; job category, computer usage in hours per day, adjustable sitting chair usage, antiglare usage, and adjusting computer screen were significantly associated with the presence of symptoms for computer vision syndrome (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The prevalence of computer vision syndrome was high among computer user workers in the study institution. There was no significant difference in developing computer related symptoms of computer vision syndrome between male and female workers. There is a need to increase the ergonomic awareness among workers and corrective measures need to be implemented to reduce the impact of computer related symptoms of computer vision syndrome.
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