Spectacle utilisation rate and reasons for non-compliance with wearing of spectacles amongst primary school children in Onitsha, Anambra state, Nigeria

African Vision and Eye Health

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Spectacle utilisation rate and reasons for non-compliance with wearing of spectacles amongst primary school children in Onitsha, Anambra state, Nigeria
 
Creator Ezinne, Ngozika E. Mashige, Khathutshelo P. Akano, Obinna F. Ilechie, Alex A. Ekemiri, Kingsley K.
 
Subject Optometry, ophthalmology, vision science spectacle utilisation rate; spectacle wear; refractive error; school children; non-compliance
Description Background: Uncorrected refractive errors (REs) are becoming very common in children in developing countries, yet the use of spectacles and compliance to wear are not well documented in African children.Aim: To determine spectacle utilisation rate and reasons for non-compliance with spectacle wear amongst primary school children.Setting: Primary schools in Onitsha, Anambra state, Nigeria.Methods: A stratified random cluster sampling procedure was used to select children aged 5–15 years in 17 primary schools. A total of 1020 were enumerated – 998 (97.8%) were examined, and 97 (9.7%) had RE (uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or worse in both eyes). A questionnaire interview using items derived from the revised Refractive Error Study in Children protocol was used to get information regarding reasons for spectacle wear non-compliance.Results: Of the 97 children with RE, 20 wore their spectacles during the time of study, yielding a spectacle utilisation rate of 20.6%. Eleven (55%) of those wearing spectacles were females, 13 (65%) were myopic and the highest number (50%) of spectacle wearers was in the 8–10 years age category. Age, gender and type of RE were significantly associated with spectacle wear (p 0.05 was considered statistically significant). The major reasons for non-compliance with spectacles wear were parental disapproval for using spectacles and misconceptions about wearing spectacles.Conclusion: Spectacle utilisation amongst primary school children in Onitsha was low. These findings suggest the need for public awareness about the importance and benefits of wearing spectacles.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2020-08-06
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Survey
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/aveh.v79i1.544
 
Source African Vision and Eye Health; Vol 79, No 1 (2020); 6 pages 2410-1516 2413-3183
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/544/1290 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/544/1289 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/544/1291 https://avehjournal.org/index.php/aveh/article/view/544/1288
 
Coverage Africa; South Africa, — 5 to 15 years; both genders; black
Rights Copyright (c) 2020 Ngozika E. Ezinne, Khathutshelo P. Mashige, Obinna F. Akano, Alex A. Ilechie, Kingsley K. Ekemiri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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