Low Vision and Performance of Work-Related Manual Tasks Requiring Dexterity

有视力障碍(VIS)的成年人在劳动力中的比例偏低，并经历着失业和 就业不足。与VIS相关的生产力损失是显著的。VIS还与一种 增加了职业伤害的风险，特别是在老年工人中。随着劳动力的老龄化和 最常报告的不可逆转视力丧失的原因是与年龄有关的，工作场所的VIS是严重的， 代价高昂且不断增加的负担危及劳动力的安全、福祉、多样性和生产率。一个 VIS患者就业的障碍是缺乏与其能力和潜力相关的知识 技能集是否提供了正确的支持，以及这些技能集如何与工作要求相匹配。我们的长期目标是 拟议的工作范围是开发模型，这些模型可用作知情招聘、提高安全性、 基于潜在工人的个人因素的生产率、工作满意度和劳动力多样性。这个 拟议项目的重点是执行需要不同水平的视觉运动功能和 视功能能力降低的老年工人的灵巧度(最佳矫正视力、对比度 敏感度、视野和深度感知)。潜在工作年龄(55-70岁)和确诊的成年人 视力低下(轻度/中度/晚期老年性黄斑变性、青光眼和 糖尿病视网膜病变)将与年龄、性别和教育程度相似的对照组一起被招募参加 层次特征。参与者将被要求执行一系列与工作相关的体力任务，要求 在6种照明条件下的不同程度的灵巧。将追求三个具体目标。在目标1中，我们将 确定单个和多个领域的视觉功能能力对工作相关绩效的影响 手动任务。目标2的重点是灯光如何修改目标1中的发现。在目标3中，我们将探索如何视觉 功能容量和照明会改变低智商个体在进行与工作相关的体力任务时的工作姿势 幻象。将使用适当构建的混合线性统计模型来检验相关的假设 在每个目标内。拟议项目的结果可用于(1)更好地匹配工作要求和 个人因素(例如，视觉功能能力)，(2)更好地预测并因此降低肌肉骨骼疾病的风险 通过考虑与衰老相关的视觉功能能力，以及(3)设计住宿和 对老龄化的劳动力采取干预措施，从而维持或提高其生产率、福祉和安全性。

Adults with visual impairments (VIs) are underrepresented in the labor force and experience unemployment and underemployment. Productivity losses associated with VIs are significant. VIs have also been associated with an increased risk of occupational injuries, particularly among older workers. With the aging of the labor force and the most often reported causes of irreversible vision loss being age-related, VIs in the workplace are a serious, costly and growing burden jeopardizing the safety, well-being, diversity and productivity of the labor force. A barrier to the employment of individuals with VIs is the lack of knowledge related to their abilities and potential skillsets if provided with the right support and how these match the job requirements. The long-term goal of our proposed line of work is to develop models that can be used as a tool to informed hiring, improved safety, productivity, job satisfaction and workforce diversity based on the individual factors of a potential worker. The focus of the proposed project is the performance of jobs requiring varying levels of visuomotor function and dexterity in older workers with reduced visual function capacities (best-corrected visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual field and depth perception). Adults of potential working age (55-70 years old) and diagnosed with low vision conditions (mild/moderate/advanced stages of age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy) will be recruited for participation along with controls with similar age, gender and education level characteristics. Participants will be asked to perform a wide range of work-related manual tasks requiring various levels of dexterity under 6 lighting conditions. Three specific aims will be pursued. In Aim 1, we will determine how visual function capacities in single and multiple domains impact performance on work-related manual tasks. Aim 2 is focused on how lighting modify the findings in Aim 1. In Aim 3, we will explore how visual function capacities and lighting alter work postures when doing work-related manual tasks in individuals with low vision. Appropriately constructed mixed linear statistical models will be used to test the hypotheses associated within each aim. The findings of the proposed project can be used to (1) better match job requirements and individual factors (e.g., visual function capacities), (2) better predict and thus reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders by considering aging-related visual function capacities, and (3) design accommodations and interventions for an aging labor force, thus maintaining or increasing its productivity, well-being and safety.