Vision Assessment of Drivers of Passenger Service Vehicles Operating across Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality
Abstract:
The main purpose of the study is to establish the
vision of the drivers of Passenger Service Vehicles operating across Bushenyi –
Ishaka municipality in Uganda. A cross-sectional descriptive study with both
quantitative and qualitative techniques was used. Semi structured
questionnaires were administered to 392 participants and the data was analysed
at three (3) different levels; Univariate, to find out the proportion of
respondents with reduced vision for driving, Bivariate, to assess the effect of
individual factors on accident involvement & Multivariate, to assess for
the effect of the potential confounding variables. Participants underwent eye
examinations comprising visual acuity, colour vision test using Ishihara
Pseudo-Isochromatic plates, confrontational visual fields, external and
internal Ocular eye health examinations. 87% of the drivers of Passenger
Service Vehicles met the visual requirement for driving (visual acuity greater
than 6/9 in both eyes) while 13% had inadequate vision for driving (visual
acuity less than 6/9 in both eyes). The commonest cause of reduced vision was
refractive error (71%) and the factors associated with it according to the
respondents were the family history of blindness, old age and accidents
(trauma). Poor visual acuity was significantly associated with road traffic
accidents (P-0.004). This study implies that the number of operators of
passenger service vehicles in Bushenyi District with visual acuity less than
6/9 for driving is high and the level of awareness and utilization of eye care
services by the drivers of Passenger Service Vehicles in Bushenyi is low.
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