Ophthalmology Research: An International Journal

The visual ability of road users is fundamental to traffic safety. Despite the high burden of traffic crashes and associated mortality in low-income countries such as Nigeria, evidence for an association between vision function and traffic safety outcomes is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the visual acuity of commercial motorcyclists operating within the main campus of Abia State University, Uturu. Two hundred operators who had been on the job for at least one year constituted the test population, while staff and students of Abia State University, Uturu, who were sex and aged-matched and who are not commercial motor cyclists constituted the control group. Data were obtained with the aid of a structured questionnaire and clinical examinations were carried out by standard procedures. Results showed that Snellen’s fraction which is a indicator of visual acuity for the left eye of control and test groups  was recorded as 0.98+- 0.30 and 0.88+- 0.35 respectively and for the right eyes 0.99+- 0.10 and 0.87+- 0.50 respectively. Only 38% of test group had normal visual acuity of 6/6 compared to 73% of control. Visual acuity correlated negatively with age for the left (r = - 0.712) and right (r = - 0.740) eyes as well as with length of service for left (r = -0.623 and right (r = - 0.632) eyes of motorcyclist operators. In conclusion, visual acuity was inversely proportional to age and length of service.