Refraction-seeking behaviour among young people presenting to a medical college hospital of Bihar Nishant Prateek1, Sinha Sony2,*, Sinha Ranjeet Kumar3 1Former Junior Resident, Dept. of Ophthalmology, Patna Medical College, Bihar 2Assistant Professor, Dept. of Ophthalmology, Patna Medical College, Bihar 3Associate Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, Patna Medical College, Bihar, India *Corresponding Author: Email: nishanteyecare@gmail.com
Online published on 24 September, 2018. Abstract With an objective to enquire about availability of primary or secondary level facilities for refraction and explore reasons for approaching a tertiary OPD despite awareness of the same, a prospective study was conducted over a two month period in the ophthalmology OPD of a medical college of Bihar among patients aged 10–24 years from Patna district diagnosed with refractive errors, using a predesigned interview schedule and subsequent statistical analysis. Of 1075 subjects, about 61% of rural young people recalled that refraction facilities (of primary or secondary level) were available in the vicinity of their residence (about 18% denied availability, and 21% were unaware) while all 961 urban young people were aware of the same. The prime reason for visit among urban patients was the need for certification from a government institution for admission to an educational institution or job. Hence, there is need to establish new and advertise existing vision centres, conduct community screening, establish government-subsidized optician services network, inculcate importance of counselling patients among all eye care professionals, define the role of a tertiary care institution in the minds of the public and support the tertiary hospital by a high-volume primary eye care facility in the neighbourhood. Top Keywords Residence, Refractive errors, Refraction facilities, Screening, Tertiary OPD, Vision centres. Top |