Factors affecting non-compliance to spectacle wear in children aged six years and below with refractive errors: A hospital based cross-sectional study in India

Abstract

Uncorrected refractive errors (RE) are the most common cause of preventable visual Impairment (VI) in children, which if not treated in time can lead to amblyopia. VI in early childhood interferes with their overall development affecting their future opportunities in life. Spectacles remain the most popular and effective method for correction of RE. Children unlike adults, often don’t understand the need for wearing spectacles, thus prescribing spectacles in children becomes difficult. Aim of this study was to find out proportion of spectacle wear non-compliance in children aged six years and below and identify factors associated with it. The study was conducted among 115 children aged six years and below with refractive errors who were prescribed spectacle correction. Children were selected using simple random sampling. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent factors associated with spectacle wear non-compliance. Proportion of spectacle wear non-compliance was 53.04%. Children with spectacle wear non-compliance were more likely to: belong to age of two to four years (AOR = 4.3; 95%CI: 1.3-14.3); have mother with up-to primary school education (AOR = 3.7; 95%CI: 1.2-11.7); have anisometropia (AOR = 11.1; 95%CI: 3.4-36.7). Statistically significant association was observed between spectacle wear non-compliance and child’s age, mother’s education, anisometropia, astigmatism, manifest squint, intolerance to glasses, glasses lost, glasses broken, concerned teasing and cost issues. Children less than four years of age; with anisometropia and those whose mothers had up-to primary school education were more likely to be non-compliant to spectacle wear.