Magnitude 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, 2019.

Abstract

Introduction: 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, and other factors. Driver related factors collectively contribute for 82% RTAs. Driver’s vision impairment is one of the factors for increasing prevalence and fatality of RTAs. Those drivers with a visual disorder had fifteen times more accidents than those without these problems. The use of alcohol and psychoactive drugs impair driving skill, and there is a significant association between a number of psychoactive substances usages and increased crash risk. 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. Matherials and Methods: Cross sectional study design was employed in the present study.The sample size of the study was 402. Subjects were approached while waiting their turn using systematic random sampling technique. Semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used along measurement of visual functions. Data were entered to Epi-data manager version 4.4.1 and exported to Stastical Package for Social scienses (SPSS) version 25 for statistical analysis. Results of the descriptive analysis were summarized by frequencies, means and proportions, and presented by using tables and figures. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression were applied to determine association between dependent and independent variables. Results: In the present study prevalence of self-reported road traffic accident (RTA) for the last one year was 142 (35.7%) (95% CI=31.02% to 40.38%).Two hundred fifty eight (64.8%) of the respondents were married, and 140 (35.2 %) were not. Mean age of drivers was 32.11years (SD ±9.133). Five point five percent (22) of the repondents were night shift workers. Among drivers, sixteen (4%) and 28 (7%) of them had color vision abnormality and subnormal depth perception respectively. Severe khat use disorder, moderate alcohol use disorder, abnormal color vision, stereopsis abnormality, work schedule, marital status, and age of drivers were significantly association with RTA. Conclusion and Recommendation: In conclusion, the present study revealed that there were stastically 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 sugest eye examination in drivers whose age is greater than fifty years. We advise awareness creation about the association of RTA and night time driving for drivers.We recommend transport authority officials to use efforts to tackle the use of substances among drivers.We also recommend researchers to conduct research using stronger research desings