Purpose:  To determine the importance of patient satisfaction as a tool for quality improvement. Study Design:  Cross sectional survey. Place and Duration of Study:  Pediatric Ophthalmology Department of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi, from May 2017 to September 2017. Methods:  This study included 500 individuals, who were caregivers of children visiting the hospital at the time of data collection. Individuals who visited departments other than pediatric department were excluded. Two groups were made. Group 1 included 300 individuals who were interviewed for to assess the patient satisfaction. On the basis of response, play area was made spacious, additional registration counters were placed and more reception staff members were hired to shorten the waiting and registration time, additional fans were installed in the waiting area and patient information was displayed on TV screens to aid uneducated patients and their attendants. Second group with 200 individuals were interviewed after these improvements. Pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data regarding socio-demographic characteristics and experience of visit to the hospital. SPSS version 20 was used for descriptive and inferential data analysis. Results:  Participants in this survey showed high level of satisfaction after interventions 45 to 65%.There was statistically significant association between satisfaction level and improvement in services was found (p < 0.001). Conclusion:  Satisfaction level of patients depends upon the quality of services and medical care provided and it can be used as a good tool for improving the services in the hospitals. Key Words:  Satisfaction, Outpatient department, Hospital.

Introduction: According to the WHO, a person is said to be blind when he/she has visual acuity of less than 3/60, and/or a corresponding visual field of less than 10°; for a smaller diameter, in the better eye with the best possible correction. At present, approximately 39 million individuals are bilaterally blind, and another 285 million with severe visual impairment. Objective: To assess the willingness and knowledge of the people regarding eye donation and to evaluate factors associated with eye donation. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was carried out in the outdoor patient department (OPD) of two governments and two private tertiary healthcare hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A total of 360 individuals who visited OPD of the tertiary health care hospitals were included. Data were obtained by using an interview-based questionnaire after taking informed consent. Inferential analysis was done by applying the Chi-Square test and binary logistic regression. Results: Out of 360 respondents, the majority were males 201. 276 were willing to donate their eyes. Willingness showed a statistically significant association with occupation. 175 had good knowledge regarding eye donation.  Male respondents had 3 times more knowledge regarding eye donation as compared to females. Respondents having an age higher than 30 years had 2 times high knowledge as compared to individuals having an age less than 30 years.  Conclusion: The majority of the people showed willingness but had little knowledge regarding eye donation procedures and eye banks in Pakistan.

Purpose:  To access knowledge, attitude, and practices of Eye care practitioners (ECPs) towards COVID-19 guidelines and to determine their knowledge about use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Methods:  A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tertiary eye hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, from October 2020 to March 2021. A total of 270 Eye care practitioners currently working in public and private hospitals were included in this study. Non-probability convenient sampling technique was used. Data was collected from individuals through an interview-based questionnaire after taking consent. Data was coded and analyzed by using SPSS version 26. The Chi-square test was used for further analysis. Results:  Mean age of participants was 29.85 ± 7.482 years, ranging from 18 to 65 years. Females (67%) were slightly outnumbered than males of the total sample. Moreover, 50% of the respondents had adequate knowledge about COVID-19 while only 39.3% had a positive attitude towards COVID-19. Hours of practice and years of experience had an association with knowledge. Good practices were observed by only 43.3% of the total sample. Practices had an association with the department of work of ECPs. Conclusion:  There is scarcity of knowledge among ECPs about COVID-19 and its preventive measures. Less than 50% ECPs with positive attitude and good practices towards COVID-19 indicate a dire need to train them for use of PPEs.

A descriptive cross-sectional survey was done from January to June 2018 in welding shops of Rawalpindi city, Pakistan. The objectives of the study were to determine the frequency of topical ocular anesthetic use among welders and to assess the knowledge and practices of welders regarding safety measures. One hundred and fifty-eight welders from age group of 20 years and above, having welding work experience of more than one year, were included in the study. The sampling strategy was non-random convenient sampling. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Topical ocular anesthetic use among welders was found to be 45.6%. Statistically significant association was found between knowledge and practices of welders regarding their safety measures (p<0.05). On binary logistic regression, work experience was found to be the strongest predictor of good knowledge (OR = 4.15, 95% CI = 1.45 -12.15) and practices (OR=10.46 95% CI = 2.92 -37.51).

Purpose:  To find out the effect of trabeculectomy on corneal astigmatism among glaucoma patients. Study Design:  Interventional case series. Place and Duration of Study:  Al-Shifa Trust hospital, from August 2015 to February 2016. Methods:  Thirty patients of glaucoma who were advised trabeculectomy were included in the study. Pre and post trabeculectomy data was collected by a structured clinical proforma. Snellen chart was used to measure visual acuity. Autorefracto-keratometer was used to find K-readings, corneal astigmatism and its axis. Data was entered in SPSS version 22. Descriptive analysis was done to report frequencies, percentages for qualitative variables and mean and SD for continuous variables. Paired sample t test was applied after the preliminary analysis to compare the corneal astigmatism pre and post trabeculectomy. Results:  Out of 30 patients, majority (76%) were males. There was no statistically significant change found in visual acuity pre and post trabeculectomy (p-value > 0.05). There was statistically significant difference of K1 (Horizontal) and K2 (Vertical) readings pre and post trabeculectomy (p < 0.05). There was a statistically significant increase in overall corneal astigmatic power (p < 0.05). Approximately 1.20D of astigmatism developed after trabeculectomy. There was no statistically significant difference between pre (94.0 ± 49.6) and post-operative corneal axis of astigmatism (87.6 ± 64.1). Conclusion:  Trabeculectomy results in a significant change of corneal curvature in both meridians. This causes a change in post-operative visual acuity which in turn may adversely affect the compliance of patient towards surgical treatment. Patient should be informed and counselled about the possible visual outcomes after the trabeculectomy to preclude any distress that may occur following surgery. Key Words:  Glaucoma, Trabeculectomy, Corneal Astigmatism, Visual acuity, Keratometry.