Research

Utilization of Eye Care Services among Those with Unilateral Visual Impairment in Rural South India: Andhra Pradesh Eye Disease Study (APEDS)

  • The purpose of this study was to report on the utilization of eye care services and its associated factors among those with unilateral visual impairment (VI) in a rural South Indian population.

  • This was a population-based cross sectional study conducted among 4456 participants.

  • Of the 489 (11%; 95% CI: 10.1-11.9) people with unilateral VI, 399 (81.6%) participants reported noticing a change in their vision over the last five years but only 136 (34.1%) participants had sought eye care consultation.

  • Participants with any education (OR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1-3.2), had blindness (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.4- 5.2), and cataract (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.0-4.3) as a cause of unilateral VI were more like to seek eye care consultations.

  • The most commonly reported reasons for not seeking eye care services were “do not have money for eye checkup” in 30.7% of the participants followed by “do not have a serious problem” (30.0%).

  • Although most people of rural population in India noticed a change in their vision, they did not seek eye care due to financial and person-related reasons.

Publication date

January 25, 2018

Publication

International Journal of Ophthalmology

Sponsor Institution

Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation, India and Christoffel-Blindenmission (CBM), Bensheim, Germany

Authors

Srinivas Marmamula, Giridhar Pyda , Rohit C Khanna
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