FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DELAYED UPTAKE OF GLASSES AMONG PATIENTS WITH REFRACTIVE ERRORS AT JINJA REGIONAL REFERRAL HOSPITAL.  A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Anicent  Asiimwe; Adonia  Kyakulaga

doi:10.51168/sjhrafrica.v6i3.1583

Authors

Anicent Asiimwe Ophthalmic Clinical Officers Training School Jinja
Adonia Kyakulaga Ophthalmic Clinical Officers Training School Jinja

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51168/sjhrafrica.v6i3.1583

Keywords:

Refractive error patients, Delayed eyeglasses uptake, Jinja Regional Referral Hospital

Abstract

Background.

Despite the known benefits of wearing glasses for correcting refractive errors, there is a significant delay in the uptake of glasses among patients at Jinja Referral Hospital. This study determined factors associated with delayed uptake of glasses among patients with refractive errors at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital.

Methods.

It was a cross-sectional descriptive study, using quantitative methods was conducted among patients attending Jinja regional referral hospital eye clinic. 100 Respondents were selected by non-probability convenient sampling. Data was analyzed using Excel data base to for quantitative data which was presents in tables and graphs.

Results.

46(46%) of the participants were males, 12(27.78%) were in the age range of 41-50 years, and 41.67% of those participants were diagnosed with visual impairment. 65% of the respondents reported concerns about the social stigma of wearing glasses. The stigma was more pronounced among men (70%), 50% of both men and women felt that wearing glasses affected their appearance particularly younger individuals, 70(70%) of the participants were not aware that glasses can improve vision, 57(57%) were not aware of potential consequences of not correcting refractive errors timely and 52(52%) had not received information about timely correction of refractive errors from health care providers.

Conclusion.

The study established that several key factors, including demographic characteristics, low awareness levels, and social attitudes, significantly contribute to the delay in adopting corrective eyewear. Younger individuals and males were more likely to delay, while limited awareness and social stigma surrounding glasses further exacerbated the issue.

Recommendations.

To improve awareness of the importance of vision correction, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with Jinja Regional Referral Hospital and community leaders, should launch targeted awareness campaigns within the next six months.

References

Bourne RR, Flaxman SR, Braithwaite T, et al. Magnitude, temporal trends, and projections of the global prevalence of blindness and distance and near vision impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Health 2017; 5: e888–97.

Cheng C, Parreno J, Nowak RB, Biswas SK, Wang K, Hoshino M, Uesugi K, Yagi N, Moncaster JA, Lo WK, Pierscionek B, Fowler VM. Age-related changes in eye lens biomechanics, morphology, refractive index, and transparency. Aging (Albany, NY). 2019 Dec 16;11(24):12497-12531. doi: 10.18632/aging.102584. Epub 2019 Dec 16. PMID: 31844034; PMCID: PMC6949082.

Clarifying the disease state of presbyopia J Refract Surg, 37 (S1) (2021), pp. S8- S11, 10.3928/1081597X-20210408-05

Flaxman SR, Bourne RRA, Resnikoff S. Global causes of blindness and distance vision impairment 1990-2020: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Health. 2017;5:e1221–e1234. - PubMed

International Journal of Healthcare Sciences ISSN 2348-5728 (Online) Vol. 5, Issue 2, pp: (632-640), Month: October 2017 - March 2018, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

Jones N, Bartlett HE, Cooke R. An analysis of the impact of visual impairment on activities of daily living and vision-related quality of life in a visually impaired adult population. British Journal of Visual Impairment. 2019;37(1):50-63.

Khandekar R, Gogri U, Al-Harby S. Changing trends in myopia among schoolchildren in Oman: Screening information over 11 years. Oman J Ophthalmol. 2018;11(3):232-236.

Khurana AK. Professor, ophthalmology RI of Sciences OI of M, Rohtak- 124001 I. Compr Ophthalmol. 2017;28

Naidoo KS, Fricke TR, Wilson DA, Jong M, Sankaridurg P, Wong TY, Naduvilath TJ, Resnikoff S. Ophthalmology. 2017 Mar;124(3):e25. Doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.08.011.PMID: 28219509

Naidoo KS, Leasher J, Bourne RR, et al. Global vision impairment and blindness due to uncorrected refractive error, 1990–2010. Optom Vision Sci. 2016;93(3): 227–234. https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000000796

Naidoo KS, Leasher J, Bourne RR, et al. Global vision impairment and blindness due to uncorrected refractive error, 1990–2010. Optom Vision Sci. 2016;93(3): 227–234. https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000000796.

New insights in presbyopia: impact of correction strategies BMJOpen Ophthalmol, 8 (2023), p. e001122

Pan C-W, Dirani M, Cheng C-Y, et al. The age-specific prevalence of myopia in Asia: a meta-analysis. Optom Vis Sci 2015;92:258–66.

Pezzullo L, Streatfeild J, Simkiss P, Shickle D. The economic impact of sight loss and blindness in the UK adult population. BMC Health Serv Res. 2018;18:63. - PMC - PubMed

Reddy PA, Congdon N, MacKenzie G. Effect of providing near glasses on productivity among rural Indian tea workers with presbyopia (PROSPER): a randomized trial. Lancet Glob Health. 2018;6:e1019–e1027. - PubMed

United Nations Department of Economic and Social and Economic Affairs. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision. Available at: http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/2015. Accessed: February 1, 2015.

Wang H, Cousineau C, Fan Y, Dill SE, Boswell M, Rozelle S, Ma X. Gender equity in vision care seeking behavior among caregivers: evidence from a randomized controlled trial in rural China. Int J Equity Health. 2022 Feb 19;21(1):26. doi: 10.1186/s12939-022-01625-4. PMID: 35183168; PMCID: PMC8858451.

WHO. Coding instructions for the WHO/PBL eye examination record (version III). ttp://apps.who.int/iris/ bitstream/10665/67896/1/PBL_88.1.pdf (accessed Aug 14 2017 J.S. Wolffsohn, L.M. Davies, A.L. Sheppard

Wong TY, Ferreira A, Hughes R, et al. Epidemiology and disease burden of pathologic myopia and myopic choroidal neovascularization: an evidence-based systematic review. Am J Ophthalmol 2014;157:9–25.e12.

Zhou Z, Ma X, Yi H, et al. Factors underlying different myopia prevalence between middle- and low-income provinces in China. Ophthalmology 2015; 122:1060–2.