Parents’ Knowledge and Practice Regarding Use of Spectacles in Children in the Age Between Two to Ten years Old Children with Refractive Errors Participating in Eye Clinic at Lady Ridgeway Hospital, Colombo

Abstract

Background: Globally 123 million people have been affected refractive errors. Among them 19 million are children and 80% of them are visual learners. Objectives: To assess the parents’ knowledge, practice, and factors regarding wearing spectacles among children with refractive errors. Methodology: Descriptive cross sectional study was done among 350 of parents who have children with refractive errors age between 2-10 years using convenient sampling method. Interviewer administrated pre-tested questionnaire was used to obtain data of demographic, knowledge, practice and factors regarding refractive errors and spectacle wearing. Results and conclusions: Majority were age between 5 - 7 years children with refractive error 42.9% and 53.7% were female. 58% of parents’ educational level was up to ordinary level. 51.4% of parents did not know about available treatment method of refractive errors. 56.3% of parent did not obtain knowledge about refractive error. 7.4% of parents were having consanguinity marriage. There were statistically significant associations between, parents’ educational level with knowledge of the parents about wearing spectacles, parents educational level with parents’ knowledge about treatment methods in refractive error and parents knowledge on child’s refractive error with parents knowledge in type of refractive error (p-0.001). There were associations between, age of the child with practice of the parents about wearing spectacle (p-0.043), gender of the child with practice of the parents about wearing spectacles (p-0.023), age of the child with child forgetting or missing of the spectacle (p-0.037), medical history of the child with factors association of spectacles. There were associations between, parents’ educational levels with knowledge of the parents about wearing spectacles, knowledge about treatment methods available for refractive error, parents knowledge on child's refractive error with parent’s knowledge in type of refractive error.