Purpose:   To provide epidemiological data on ocular injuries among patients utilising the provincial hospitals eye care clinics in urban KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.  This data can be used in the future planning and intervention for ocular injuries at provincial hospitals.Methods:  Record cards of 220 ocular injury patients seen at two selected urban provincial hospitals over a period of four years were reviewed.Results:   Male presentation was higher (79.1%) compared to females (20.9%). The  Black  population (85.9%) experienced more ocular injuries than other race groups.  The 21 to 30 age group incurred more injuries (32.3%) than other age groups.  Open globe injuries occurred more frequent (56.4%) than closed globe injuries (43.6%).  The frequent type of injury was blunt trauma/contusion (32.7%).  More than half of the injuries were from solid objects (56.4%) followed by assaults (16.4%).  The home was the common place to incur an injury (72.2%).  Twenty four patients (10.9%) required surgical intervention at initial presentation.  One hundred and fifty eight (71.8%) patients returned for follow up examination.  Twenty five percent of the patients remained with poor vision following treatment.  Conclusion:   Ocular trauma due to burns is usually bilateral while that due to blunt trauma and intra ocular foreign bodies are generally unilateral.  Solid objects were the most frequent cause of ocular injury and injuries due to this cause were most often incurred in the home. (S Afr Optom 2013 72(3) 119-126)

Purpose: To provide epidemiological data on ocular injuries among patients utilising two provincial hospital eye care clinics in rural KwaZuluNatal, South Africa. Methods: Record cards of 440 ocular injured patients seen at two selected rural provincial hospitals over a period of four years were reviewed. Results: More males (68.9%) had eye injuries than females (31.1%). The Black population (97.7%) had a higher prevalence of ocular injuries than other race groups. Young patients between 21 and 30 years old incurred more ocular injuries (31.4%) than other age groups. Open globe injuries were more frequent (56.1%) than closed globe injuries (43.9%). Blunt trauma/contusion (36.4%) was the most frequent type of injury (36.4%). Solid objects (53.4%) were responsible for more than half of the injuries followed by assaults (28.2%). The majority of the eye injuries (54.5%) occurred at home. There was a reduction in visual acuity of 37.7% of the subjects following treatment. Conclusion: Ocular trauma is a relatively common health problem in rural KwaZulu-Natal and is significantly more common among the male and Black population. (S Afr Optom 2012 71(4) [159][160][161][162][163][164][165]

No abstract available

BACKGROUND: Professionalism, which includes factors such as attire, hygiene, communication skills, compassion and empathy; has not been previously investigated in the discipline of Optometry and yet is known to be influential in building patient-practitioner relationships. METHODS: This study was conducted at public and private eye care facilities in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. Convenience sampling was used to select 600 participants and data collected with a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. RESULTS: Attire was considered a competency indicator by the majority of participants (70.1%). Practitioners who exercised good hygiene were regarded as being more competent (73.3%). More than half (57.4%) of the respondents perceived an optometrist who wears glasses as more professional and likely to better understand their condition. A practitioner who smelled of cigarette smoke was considered unprofessional (67.3%). The use of simple terms was preferred by 88.5%, while 75.6% respondents felt that an optometrist who introduces themselves and maintained eye contact is more reliable. Most respondents (65%) believed that an optometrist who considers their lifestyle and finance was more trustworthy. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, physical appearance and other factors such as hygienic practices, communication skills and empathy appear to be important contributors to patient perspectives of professionalism in optometrists. Health care practitioners would therefore do well to consider these factors and soft skills in advancing the public’s perception of them and apply them to routine practice to build trust with patients.

Purpose: The optometry degree programme in South Africa currently includes a combination of both theoretical and clinical modules.  The optometric skills required by graduates are often achieved by students’ involvement in clinical training at both in-house clinics, as well as external clinics.   One of the external clinic sites for all institutions in South Africa currently offering the Optometry degree is the Phelophepa Health Care train.  This study set out to investigate, from a student’s perspective, the effectiveness of experiential learning at this clinical site.Setting: The study was carried out aboard the Ph-elophepa Health Care train.Method:  A questionnaire survey was completed by a saturated sample of 177 optometry students having completed at least a two week clinical rotation aboard Phelophepa.  The sample comprised students from all four optometry programmes in South Africa, as well as, exchange optometry students from the University of New South Wales and Melbourne University.  The questionnaire was divided into five sections that dealt with demographics, equipment and facilities, profile of refractive and pathologycases encountered, additional skills and general perceptions. The self-administered questionnaire was in English and Afrikaans, as these are the twolanguage mediums in which optometric education,in South Africa, is currently delivered.Results: A response rate of 57% was obtained.  Theequipment and facilities aboard Phelophepa were found to be adequate.  Just over half of all the respondents had consulted with over 50 patients onPhelophepa during their two week rotation.  Communication was not reported as being a barrier to consulting with patients on Phelophepa.  Respondents reported the clinical cases as being mainly interesting and ‘good learning’ cases.  The majority of respondents (71%) felt that the general clinical skills they obtained on Phelophepa were better than those developed in their institutional clinics.  Not all refractions and ophthalmoscopy on patients aresupervised aboard Phelophepa.  There appears to be a need for the delivery of specialized optometry skills like binocular vision, paediatric vision, low vision and diagnostic techniques on Phelophepa.   All the respondents agreed that Phelophepa was a useful learning site, and 99% agreed that optometry departments should continue using it as an externalclinic site.Conclusion:  Despite certain shortcomings, under-graduate students perceive Phelophepa to be a useful learning experience that optometry schools in South Africa should continue to utilize.