Ophthalmic practice health hazards among ophthalmologists in a resource–limited setting

Objective: To determine ophthalmic practice health hazards among ophthalmologists in a\udresource-limited setting. Methods: The study was conducted through a cross-sectional survey\udof 53 ophthalmologists ’ experiences on ophthalmic practice health hazards using semi-structured\udquestionnaire. Results: Most practitioners felt eye surgical procedures 40 (75.5%) and examination\udof eye patients (62.3%) were potentially hazardous to practitioners and, 49 (92.5%) thought clerking\udwas not. Most, 92.5% had experienced patients ’ halitosis/cough during ophthalmoscopy and,\ud77.4% experienced hand smeared with patients' eye discharges/tears. Important health hazards\udexperiences included, having contacted systemic diseases (5.7%) and infective eye diseases (18.9%),\udknife cut during surgical procedure (7.6%), needle pricks (49.1%) and hand smeared with patients'\udblood (49.1%). Others were neck pain at ophthalmoscopy (35.9%), blurred vision at retinoscopy\ud(20.8%) and hoarseness while performing visual acuities (1.9%). Conclusions: Eye practitioners\udare exposed to hazards in their practice including potentially life threatening ones. Necessary\udprecautions at work, use of hazard free ophthalmic equipment and working conditions would\udreduce hazards in ophthalmic practice