Factors associated with spectacle-wear compliance among school children of 7-15 years in South India

Abstract

Background: Easily correctable refractive errors are the commonest cause of visual impairment in school children in India. Children who need but cannot afford spectacle correction are high in our country. Important factor for the success of the corrective services is compliance to spectacle wear. Objective: To assess the spectacle wear compliance among school children who were provided spectacle free of cost. To study the determinants of spectacle acceptance and reasons for non compliance. Materials and Methods: All (1378) government school children of 7-15 years age group in both rural and urban field practice areas of a medical college in Bangalore were screened and students with refractive error were provided spectacles free of cost. An unannounced follow up was done after 3 months to assess compliance. Data was analyzed to determine the factors associated with spectacle wear compliance. Results: Among 36 boys and 47 girls who received spectacles free of cost, 31 were from rural and 52 from urban schools. 48(57.8%) children were actually wearing the spectacles at the time of follow up. 42(87.5%) compliant children reported improvement of performance in school related activities. Compliance was better in younger children and those from urban schools. Children of father with lower level of education and with power -0.5D were more likely to be non compliant. Conclusion: To achieve the goal of vision 2020 timely detection of refractive errors should be followed by cost effective intervention. The barriers to spectacle acceptance should be studied and addressed.