Awareness, Perceptions and Practices about Childhood Blindness among Parents Visiting a Tertiary Level Children Hospital in Delhi

Abstract

Childhood blindness impacts a child’s development, education, future work opportunities and quality of life. In nearly 50% of the cases, childhood blindness is treatable or preventable. Parents are the decision makers when it comes to children’s healthcare needs, and can play a crucial role in control of childhood blindness. The objective of this study is to assess the awareness, perceptions and practices among parents about common causes of childhood blindness visiting a tertiary level children hospital in Delhi. Methodology used; a pre-tested, structured questionnaire was administered to 100 randomly selected respondents among the parents of child patients attending the OPD of tertiary level children hospital in Delhi. The data were analysed and results presented in form of percentages and tables. The results of this study show that awareness about common conditions leading to blindness was 70.25%. Though 72.65% of respondents have heard of the common causes of blindness, only 50.35% were aware that those conditions can lead to blindness in children. Most respondents took their children for an eye check-up only when a problem occurred (35.7%). Nearly 50% of the time an optician’s help was sought for eye problems. An ophthalmologist’s opinion was most sought (47.6%) in cases of loss of vision. It has been concluded that there is a need to target those conditions for which low awareness levels have been detected. Opticians play an important role in the delivery of eye care services. There is a need to capitalise on this and enlarge their role. The general physicians and the school teachers also play vital role in identifying eye problems in children, and they form important referral links in the eye care delivery system.

Keywords: awareness, perception, practices, childhood blindness, parents