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2015, Volume 31, Number 3, Page(s) 194-199
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DOI: 10.5146/tjpath.2015.01326 |
Ocular Diseases Among Pathologists and Pathologists' Perceptions on Ocular Diseases: A Survey Study |
Orkun AKMAN, Kemal KÖSEMEHMETOĞLU |
Department of Pathology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, ANKARA, TURKEY |
Keywords:
Visual disorders, Refractive errors, Conjunctivitis, Color blindness, Pathology |
Objective: The impact of visual disorders and color vision deficiency
on the occupational life has been previously investigated by several
studies. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of visual
disorders among Turkish pathologists and their perceptions on visual
disorders.
Material and Method: A survey composed of 14 questions about
ocular diseases and perceptions to these diseases has been introduced
to the volunteering pathologists or pathology residents, participating
in the 23rd Congress of Pathology.
Results: Ninety-three pathologists or pathology residents
participated in the survey. Of the participants, 25 (26.9%) were
residents, 30 (32.3%) were pathology specialists, and 36 (38.7%) were
academicians. The mean duration for working as a pathologist was 15
years. The vast majority (%93.5) of the participants had at least one
type of refractive error; the two most common disorders were myopia
(77.0%) and astigmatism (64.4%). Sixty-four of the participants
(68.8%) claimed an increase in their refractive error after working in
the pathology department. Eyeglasses (56/87, 64.4%), contact lenses
(14/87, 16.1%), or both (9/87, 10.3%) were used in order to correct
the refractive error; however, only 31 of the participants (33.3%)
preferred using eyeglasses during microscopy. While 65 participants
(69.9%) never had conjunctivitis, 26 participants (28.0%) had at least
one conjunctivitis attack. None of the participants claimed to be color
blind.
Conclusion: Conjunctivitis and refractive errors are quite prevalent
among pathologists. Refractive errors were also found to increase
during the pathology practice. Most of the pathologists do not
consider visual disorders (mostly refractive errors) as a negative factor
during their career decision making, except a color vision defect.
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