Spectacle wear and factors associated with non-compliance among children of 5-15 years

Abstract

Introduction: Refractive errors are the commonest cause of visual impairment in school children worldwide. They are correctible and after screening, spectacles can easily enhance vision. This can be achieved only when spectacles are used regularly. Objective: This study was conducted to study the compliance of spectacles wear among children and to determine the reasons associated with non-compliance. Methodology: 400 children in the age group of 5-15 years with refractive errors attending the eye OPD, using spectacles for more than three months were included. Spectacle wear and reasons of noncompliance were enquired. Data was analyzed to determine the factors associated with spectacle wear compliance. Results: Among 232 boys and 168 girls 142 were from rural and 258 from urban areas. 244(61%) children were compliant. Compliance was better in older children and those from urban areas. Children of educated parents and with power more than -1.0 D were more likely to be compliant. Main reason for not wearing spectacles was ‘lost or broken spectacles’ and dislike for spectacle. Conclusion: Counselling of parents, teachers and peers will be an effective step towards improvement of compliance of spectacles use.

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

“…Similar findings were observed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. 5 On contrary, a study done in Rohtak, Haryana, observed that older children were more non-compliant to spectacle wear than younger children. 7 Children with anisometropia were more likely to be noncompliant to spectacle wear as compared to children without anisometropia.…”

“…Statistically significant association was observed between spectacle wear non-compliance and other variables such as astigmatism, Intolerance to glasses, Glasses Lost, Glasses Broken, Concerned teasing and Cost issues. Mehnaz et al 5 observed statistically significant association between spectacle wear non-compliance and concerned teasing.…”

“…In our study, we observed that, more than half (53.04%) of the children were not compliant to spectacle wear, which was similar to the non-compliance observed by Bruce et al 6 (53.0%), whereas a lower non-compliance of 46.1% was observed among five to seven years old children in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. 5 Odds of being non-compliant to spectacle wear was more if mothers had attended school up to primary as compared to those whose mothers had higher than primary school education. Similar results were observed by Bhandari et al 2 where children of parents with lower educational qualification were more non-compliant to spectacle wear than children born to parents with a higher educational status.…”

“…A semi-structured questionnaire was developed based on previous studies and was used to collect data. 4,5 Questionnaire was pilot tested on a sample of participants to check for comprehensibility and based on the feedback obtained, questionnaire was revised accordingly. After obtaining consent from the parent of the child, data was collected by interviewing the parent of the child.…”