PREVALENCE OF NEAR VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG SCHOOL TEACHERS IN GONDAR CITY, NORTH WEST ETHIOPIA, 2022

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Near visual impairment is presenting near visual acuity of the eye worse than N6 at 40 cm distance. Teachers' regular duties, such as reading books, writing on the blackboard and recognizing students' faces need good near vision. If a teacher had near-visual impairment, the work output is unsatisfactory. Objective: To determine prevalence and Associated factors of near vision impairment among school teachers at Gondar city Northwest Ethiopia, August 2022. Methods: To select 567 teachers in Gondar city schools, an institutional-based cross-sectional study design with a multistage sampling technique were used. The study was conducted in selected schools from May 1 to May 30, 2022. Trained data collectors were use well-structured Amharic and English language questionnaires and ophthalmic instruments for examination. The collected data were checked for completeness and entered into Epi data version 4.6, then exported to SPSS version 26 for further analysis. A binary and multivariate logistic regression model was fitted and odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval and a p-value of < 0.05 was considered to identify statistically significant associated factors of the outcome variable. Result A total of 551 school teachers were involved in this study, with a response rate of 97.1%. The prevalence of near visual impairment was 64.6%, with a confidence interval of 60.3%–68.4%. Near visual impairment was significantly associated with age >= 35 years (AOR: 4.90 at 95% CI: 3.15, 7.65), having prolonged years of teaching experience (AOR: 3.29 at 95% CI: 1.70, 4.62), having a history of ocular surgery (AOR: 1.96 at 95% CI: 1.10, 4.62), smokers (AOR: 2.21 at 95% CI: 1.22, 4.07), history of ocular trauma (AOR : 1.80 at 95%CI:1.11,3.18 and uncorrected refractive error (AOR:2.01 at 95%CI:1.13,4.03). Conclusion and recommendations: This study showed the prevalence of near vision impairment among school teachers was high, and it is not a problem of the presbyopia age group alone; it also happens at a young age. So teachers' ocular health should be well accommodated in the school eye health program to ensure optimal productivity of teachers in the education sector. Key word: Gondar, near visual impairment, school, teachers