The Perceptions Regarding Refractive Errors
and Their Psychosocial Impact on
Youth in Dakshina Kannada
746-748
Correspondence
Dr Sheetal Savur,
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology,
Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore .
Phone: +919632352678
E-mail: sheetalsavur@gmail.com
The prevalence of refractive errors especially amongst children has been commonly studied. The psychosocial impact of spectacle use in youth has seldom been studied. Our purpose was to study the perceptions of refractive errors and to investigate their psychosocial effect on youth. A descriptive questionnaire based study was conducted on unmarried youth in the age group of 18-25 years over a period of two months. The questionnaire elicited details like demography, various other modalities which were used by the respondents for the correction of the refractive errors, their perception about wearing spectacles and the psychosocial problems which they faced. Despite a high level of education, the perceptions regarding the refractive errors varied, with a large number of people having wrong perceptions and attitudes towards refractive errors especially towards spectacle use, which resulted in psychological distress. The dissemination of information about the refractive errors through the right medium will help in dispelling the misconceptions and distorted facts.