Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of newly enrolled undergraduate students towards refractive corrections-A questionnaire-based study.

Abstract

Background:-Refractive error is still the silent killer of sight & relatively more common in India. The commonest and cheapest treatment modality for correcting refractive errors in India is spectacles or eyeglasses. Among the patients who wore spectacles, their understanding and beliefs would be expected to influence the chances of compliance.

Objective:-To study the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of newly enrolled undergraduate students towards refractive corrections.

Methods:- A descriptive cross-sectional, retrospective, and non-interventional study on newly enrolled undergraduate students of various stream at Era University, Lucknow.

The participants age was between 17–32 years with the mean ± SD of the participants was 20.24 ± 2.58 years. A Questionnaire was distributed to the participants through Google Forms.

Result:- Among 259 respondents, 182 males and 77 females. About 82.2% were aware of the refractive error. 43.24% of participants were in favor of wearing contact lens, while 23.55% were in favor of spectacles. Around 84.14% found inconvenient while wearing spectacles while 55.2% respondents agrees that spectacle style affects decision of wearing it. Among them, 61% agrees to wear spectacles if prescribed by the professional and 83.4% believe that spectacle can relieve various discomfort like headache, tearing, and burning sensation.

Conclusion:- Knowledge of refractive errors and acceptance of glasses for the correction of refractive errors among undergraduates is not that encouraging. Eye care practitioners should educate patients about the choices they have to correct refractive error and lay to rest the misconceptions.