title: Musculoskeletal symptoms, skin disorders and visual impairment among fishermen in the Divisional Secretariat Division of Kalpitiya.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To describe musculoskeletal symptoms, skin disorders and visual impairment among fishermen in the Divisional Secretariat Division of Kalpitiya.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a community based descriptive cross sectional study conducted from August to October 2011. The sample consisted of 465 fishermen with ≥ 6 months experience in fishing selected using the cluster sampling technique. An interviewer administered questionnaire and a record sheet were used for data collection. Prevalence of the above conditions with 95% confidence Intervals (CI) were calculated. Chi square test was applied for the investigation of the factors associated with the above conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms was 61% (95% CI: 56.6%-65.4%). The commonest symptom was back pain (37.6%). The prevalence of skin disorders was 24% (95% CI: 20.1-27.8) and visual symptoms were 38.9% (95% CI: 34.5%-43.3%). The prevalence of visual impairment of either eye was 24.3% (95% CI: 20.3%- 28.3%) low vision of either eye 22.4% (95% CI: 18.6%- 26.2%) and blindness of either eye was 1.9% (95% CI: 1.1-2.7). The prevalence of visual impairment of better eye was 16% (95% CI: 12.7-19.3), low vision of better eye 15% (95% CI: 12-18.3) and blindness of better eye were 0.9% (95% CI: 0.05-1.75). The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms, skin disorders or visual impairment did not vary according to service duration in the fishing industry, number of days spent in the boat for a trip or type of boat.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prevalence of musculoskeletal and skin disorders and visual impairment were relatively higher among the fishermen.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Harshani
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. chrishantha-abeysena@kln.ac.lk.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abeysena
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005398:Fisheries; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016272:Occupational Health; D015995:Prevalence; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult