Knowledge, attitude and perception regarding spectacle use among patients attending eye OPD in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: Uncorrected refractive error is a major cause of avoidablevisionimpairment which significantly affects every aspectof a human’s lifeand is a treatable cause of visualimpairment that can be easily corrected by the use ofspectacles whichremains atime-tested to correct refractive errors.Method: Thishospital-basedobservational study was conducted in the OPD of the Department of Ophthalmology, Government Medical College, Jammu over a period of three months from January 2022 to March 2022.A total of 212 patientswere asked questions regarding knowledge, attitude, and perception regarding spectacle use. Data was interpreted in both descriptive and inferential statistics i.e., frequency and percentage distributionusing SPSS, version 20.0. Results: It was observed that the majority of patients were in the age group of 28-37 years (32.54%) and the male: female ratio was 1.14:1.Most (56.41%) of the patients had inadequate knowledge regarding the use of spectacles. There was a mixed perception and a favorable attitude noted among study participants. Themost common problem faced was the fogging of glasses (70.2%). Conclusions: It was concluded that some of these issues are minor and can be corrected using better quality lenses available nowadays. Lenses can be chosen according to the needs. However, there is an issue of financial expense due to frames and glasses. Education and propagation of information about refractive errors and spectacle use in schools and colleges by various stakeholders would help in clearing the fallacies and any misconceptions regarding the use of spectacle use. A concerted effort from eye care professionals, mass media, and ministries of health and education in India, should thus be the way forward.