Spectacles Under Utilization and Associated Factors Among Adults in Hawassa, South Ethiopia, June, 2022

Abstract

Background

The commonest and cheapest treatment modality for correcting refractive error is spectacles or eyeglasses. In Ethiopia, the rate of spectacles under utilization and its impact on visual impairment was not known.

Objective

To assess spectacles under utilization and associated factors among adults in Hawassa, Ethiopia, 2022.

Methods and Materials

Community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from Jan 2021 to May 2022 with a final sample size of 664. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used during the sampling process. Using an interviewer-based questionnaire, the selected individuals were asked about demographic characteristics, spectacles use, and satisfaction with spectacles, knowledge, and attitude about spectacles. An odds ratio with a 95% CI was used to display the results. A P-value less than 0.05 in multivariate logistic regressions is used to show statistical significance.

Results

The prevalence of spectacles under utilization was 307 (48.7%). The spectacles under utilization was more prevalent in individuals with unaided visual acuity of 6/6 −6/12 (46.1%), no eye checkup (38.4%), no surgery on the eye (46.6%), willingness to accept spectacles (35.9%), good knowledge about spectacles (32.6%) and poor attitude about spectacles (35%). The most common reasons for not utilizing spectacles were believed not necessary (14.9%), expensive cost (13.1%), and discomfort (11.4%). Among the spectacles users (33.64%) who wore spectacles for 2 years, 31.17% procured the spectacles without physician orders and 46.6% purchased the spectacles in the optical workshop. The most common purpose to use spectacles was for protection (41.4%).

Conclusion and Recommendation

The spectacles under utilization in Hawassa town was high. Rural residency, occupation, eye check, eye surgery, no willingness to wear spectacles, and attitude towards spectacles were significantly associated with spectacles under utilization. It is necessary to provide health education to improve the poor attitude regarding spectacles and eye checks.

Keywords:

• spectacle
• Hawassa
• refractive error

Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

This study was conducted in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. A formal authorization paper was acquired from the Hawassa university CMHS, institutional review board (IRB). Following an explanation of the study’s objectives, written informed consent was obtained from each study participant, and each study subject was informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any moment throughout the interview and examination. The study participants’ information was confidential.

Disclosure

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest in this work.