Pattern of utilisation of eye care services in Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

Eye care facilities in Nigeria are still not uniformly distributed. Benin City has more eye care health facilities than most other parts of the country. This is probably due to the privilege of having training schools for both Ophthalmologists Ophthalmic Nurses and Optometrists. This study was carried out with the aim of determining the pattern of utilisation of available eye care services in Benin City by the general public. This is a cross sectional descriptive study in which 420 staff of ministries were randomly selected. With the aid of a self-administered questionnaire, we determined the previous use of eye care personnel for those who had had eye complaints in the past. The type of services they sought and the eye care personnel involved was documented Nearly 72% of respondents had received eye care services from professionals, that is ophthalmologists, optometrists and opticians. About 28% received treatment from sources that could be considered as inappropriate consisting of 14.1% that had self medication, 7.2% from patent medicine shops, 4.8% from traditional healers and 1.2% on advice from friends. Though a high percentage of respondents have received treatment for their eye ailments from appropriate professionals, an appreciable number still patronise inappropriate sources considering that the sampled population were privileged to have a minimum basic education .