Occupational exposure to unburnt tobacco and potential risk of toxic optic neuropathy: A cross-sectional study among beedi rollers in selected rural areas of coastal Karnataka, India.

In the present study, almost one out of six beedi rollers displayed clinical signs of potential TON. Increased duration of beedi rolling, advancing age and presence of diabetes were the independent correlates of potential TON. However, with this cross-sectional study it is not possible to conclude if these factors play a role individually or collectively or are a serendipitous association, for which large scale analytical studies are required.