Awareness and practice toward refractive error correction methods among dental undergraduate students in a tertiary care center in Navi Mumbai

Abstract

Context: Visual impairment is one of the major health-care problems in the world. People pursuing higher education with long hours of studies and excessive near work are more prone to develop refractive error causing visual impairment. Dental students come into this category. In this study, we are trying to evaluate the level of awareness and practices of dental undergraduates toward refractive errors. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the level of awareness and various practices toward refractive error correction methods among dental undergraduate students of a tertiary care center in Navi Mumbai. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was done by recruiting dental undergraduate students as the subjects, after obtaining ethical approval from the institute and informed consent from the students. Subjects and Methods: A random sample of 198 undergraduate dental students were surveyed by a questionnaire. A similar study was conducted in the Goan population, and the questionnaire was taken from that study. Statistical Analysis: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v 21.0, International Business Machines (IBM)) was used for the statistical analysis. Results: Of 198, a total of 165 students, 58 males (35.15%) and 107 females (64.84%), had got their eyes examined. It was found that 135 students (68.2%) knew the difference between ophthalmologist and optometrist. Females have more usage of spectacles. The use of glasses was maximum among the students with family income >180,000/annum. Around 82 (41.4%) students using spectacles noticed that the use of glasses causes limiting effects on their activities. Hundred and four students were aware of the refractive surgeries. There was a statistically significant difference seen about the awareness between students having annual income 180,000/annum (P