Prevalence of Visual Impairment and Substance Use Disorders and, Their Association with Road Traffic Accident among Drivers of Public Transportation In Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia

Abstract

AbstractIntroduction:Around 4500 Ethiopians die every year due to Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs). Various factors contributed for high prevalence as well as fatality of RTAs in Ethiopia including the road safety, the vehicles condition, the driver’s condition, the legislation and its implementation. Driver related factors collectively including visual impairment and substance use contribute for 82% RTAs. Although there are various measures to intervene RTAs, the magnitude of visual impairment and substance use disorders among drivers of public transportation in Jimma Zone are not known objectively.Objective: The main aim of the present study was to assess magnitude of visual impairment and substance use disorders and, their association with road traffic accident among drivers of public transportation in Jimma Zone.Methodology:Cross sectional study design was employed among 398 licensed drivers. Drivers were approached while waiting their turn using systematic random sampling technique. Interviewer-administered questionnaire and measurement of visual functions were used for data collection. Data were entered toEpi-data 4.4.1 and exported to Statistical Package for Social sciences (SPSS) version 25 for statistical analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used.Results:In the present study prevalence of self-reported road traffic accident (RTA) for the last one year was 35.7% (95% CI=31.02% to 40.38%). Among drivers, sixteen (4%) and 28 (7%) of them had color vision abnormality and subnormal depth perception respectively.Conclusion and Recommendation: In conclusion, the present study revealed that there were statistically significant association between RTA and, severe khat use disorder, moderate alcohol use disorder, stereopsis abnormality, work schedule, color vision and marital status of drivers. There were also statistically significant association between age of drivers and occurrence of road traffic accident.We suggest eye examination in drivers whose age is greater than fifty years. We recommend transport authority officials to use efforts to tackle the use of substances among drivers and night driving.