Visual Abilities of Motorcyclists Injured in Road Traffic in the City of Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Background and objective: In low- and middle-income countries, two-wheel drive (DRM) vehicles are operated for commercial purposes; it is a production tool. However, it is very vulnerable for passengers, the driver and even pedestrians. It exposes 38 times more to the risk of accidents than cars. Our objective was to determine the visual abilities of motorcyclists involved in ATR in the city of Kinshasa. Methods: A cross-sectional study with analytical purposes was carried out at the department of Ophthalmology of the university clinics of Kinshasa during a period from March to May 2023. 75 bikers were examined. The ophthalmological assessment included measurement of visual acuity, examination of the anterior segment using a biomicroscope, examination of the fundus using direct ophthalmoscopy, automatic refraction, monocular and binocular visual field using the confrontation method. and color vision. Results: All riders were male, with an average age of 37.3 ± 11.1 years with a range of 20 to 63 years. Two thirds of the bikers were married. The most common complaints were the sensation of grains of sand (98.6%), and the sensation of a foreign body (50.7%). The most noted anterior segment pathologies were pterygium (33.8%) and pinguecula (21.1%). The bikers were emmetropic in 58% of cases, presbyopic in 21%, myopic in 10%, hyperopic in 11% and astigmatic in 1% of cases. Intraocular pressure was elevated in 1.4% of motorcyclists. Color vision assessment showed dyschromatopsia in 2.4% of cases. Monocular and binocular visual fields were normal in more than 9 out of ten motorcyclists. At the fundus level, 1.4% of bikers showed signs of glaucoma and 5.3% showed signs of early hypertension. Conclusion: Almost all of the motorcyclists had visual acuity and visual field consistent with motorcycle driving at least in one eye. There was not a positive correlation between the visual skills of motorcyclists and the occurrence of accidents in this population group.