A Cross-Sectional Study on the Impact of Occupational Hazards on Ocular Health Among Female Chikankari Workers in Rural Areas of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Namrata Srivastava*, Daud Hasan Siddiqui, Anita Kukreja, Nida Parveen, Wasif Mahmood

Background: Chikankari embroidery is a traditional handcraft practiced mainly by women in rural Lucknow, India. The work involves prolonged near vision tasks and repetitive fine motor activity, often under poor lighting and suboptimal ergonomic conditions, which may predispose workers to ocular strain and related visual problems. Objective: To assess the prevalence and pattern of occupational ocular health problems among female chikankari workers in rural Lucknow. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 female chikankari workers aged 18–45 years from two rural villages of Lucknow district. Participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmic evaluation, including distance and near visual acuity testing, torchlight examination, retinoscopy, ocular motility assessment, cover test, confrontation test, interpupillary distance measurement, and near point of convergence assessment. Demographic and occupational details were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Most participants were aged 25–30 years (43.3%), belonged to nuclear families (64.7%), and were predominantly from the Muslim community (54%). A majority reported working more than six hours daily (70.6%) with over ten years of occupational exposure. Common ocular complaints included ocular pain (20%), headache (14%), watering of eyes (6.6%), diplopia (6.6%), and near vision difficulty (6%). Musculoskeletal complaints such as tingling of fingers (16.6%) and back pain (7.3%) were also reported. Conclusion: Female chikankari workers experience a substantial burden of occupational ocular morbidity, highlighting the need for regular vision screening, ergonomic improvements, and targeted occupational eye-health interventions.