Vision Assessment of Public Service Vehicle Drivers in Gaborone, Botswana

Abstract

Background:. Good vision is a vital element for safe driving and pertinent sensory factor that accounts for approximately 95% of all sensory requirements. Public service drivers (PSV) vision testing is done by a transport officer in Botswana which could be inadequate assessment. This study will help to create informed decisions on road traffic regulations and policy making regarding PSV drivers’ vision assessment. Objective: To assess the vision of public service vehicle drivers in Gaborone, Botswana. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 134 participants who were assessed at Always open clinic (AO) at Gaborone bus rank during the period of 15 March 2021 to 26 March 2021. Convenience sampling was used to select the participants. Permission and authority to conduct the study was sought from the Ethics and Research Committee of the University of Nairobi/Kenyatta National Hospital. Results: The study found that 126 (94.0%) drivers had normal vision according to the WHO guideline and 109 (81.3%) met the visual requirement for driving a public service vehicle. There were 131 (97.7%) drivers who had prior eye examination. The commonest ocular disorders were presbyopia (27.6%),uncorrected refractive errors (22.4%), followed by cataract (7.4%), color vision defects (1.4%) and abnormal visual fields (1.4%). Twenty-five drivers (18.7%) had been involved in road traffic accidents (RTA). Conclusion: Majority of the drivers had good vision and met the visual acuity requirements for driving a public service vehicle and there was no statistical significant association between visual acuity, color vision and confrontational visual fields and road traffic accidents occurrence. Recommendations: There is need to do a larger similar study to compare association of vision and occurrence of road traffic accidents among PSV drivers comparing them with police records of accidents as this will provide a more accurate analysis.