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

有视力障碍的成年人（维斯）在劳动力中的代表性不足，并经历失业， 就业不足。与维斯相关的生产率损失是显著的。维斯还与一种 职业伤害的风险增加，特别是老年工人。随着劳动力的老龄化和 最常报道的不可逆视力丧失的原因与年龄有关，工作场所的维斯是一种严重的， 成本高昂且不断增长的负担，危及劳动力的安全、福祉、多样性和生产力。一 维斯患者就业的障碍是缺乏与其能力和潜力相关的知识 技能组合，如果提供了正确的支持，以及这些如何匹配工作要求。我们的长期目标是 拟议的工作路线是开发模型，可用作工具，以知情雇用，提高安全性， 生产力、工作满意度和基于潜在工人个人因素的劳动力多样性。的 拟议项目的重点是执行需要不同级别视觉功能的工作， 视功能降低的老年工人的灵活性（最佳矫正视力，对比度 灵敏度、视野和深度知觉）。潜在工作年龄（55-70岁）的成年人， 患有低视力状况（轻度/中度/晚期年龄相关性黄斑变性、青光眼和 糖尿病性视网膜病变）与具有相似年龄、性别和教育程度的对照组一起沿着招募参与 水平特征。参与者将被要求执行广泛的与工作相关的手工任务， 在6种照明条件下的各种灵活性水平。将追求三个具体目标。在目标1中，我们 确定单个和多个领域的视觉功能能力如何影响工作相关的表现 手动任务。目标2的重点是照明如何修改目标1中的发现。在目标3中，我们将探索如何视觉化 功能能力和照明改变工作姿势时，做工作相关的手动任务，在个人低 视野将使用适当构建的混合线性统计模型检验相关假设 在每一个目标。拟议项目的调查结果可用于（1）更好地满足工作要求， 个别因素（例如，视觉功能能力），（2）更好地预测，从而降低肌肉骨骼疾病的风险 通过考虑与年龄相关的视觉功能能力，以及（3）设计住宿， 为老龄化劳动力提供干预措施，从而维持或提高其生产力、福祉和安全。

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.