RESUMEN
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of visual impairment (VI), uncorrected refractive errors (URE), and effective refractive error coverage among individuals aged 15-50 years in Koshi Province, Nepal. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Koshi Province in which 4800 participants were selected from 80 clusters. The study teams visited the selected households and conducted eye examinations. This included monocular unaided (and aided) visual acuity assessment using a Snellen chart with tumbling E optotypes at a distance of 6 meters. Near vision was assessed binocularly using the N notation chart at a fixed distance of 40 cm for each individual. Torchlight examination and distance direct ophthalmoscopy was done. VI was defined as presenting visual acuity worse than 6/12 in the better eye. URE was defined as presenting visual acuity worse than 6/12 and improving to 6/12 or better on using a pinhole. Near Vision Impairment was defined as binocular presenting near vision worse than N8 among those age 35 years and older. RESULTS: In total, 4057 were examined (84.5% response rate). The prevalence of VI was 3.52% (95% CI:2.89-4.13; n = 143). The prevalence of URE in the better eye was 1.95% (95% CI:1.54-2.42; n = 79). The Refractive Error Coverage and Effective Refractive Error Coverage were 34.8% and 31.3% respectively. The prevalence of NVI was 34.24% (95% CI: 32.1-36.40; n = 666). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of VI and URE was low, attributed to the availability and uptake of services in Koshi province in Nepal.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to identify knowledge, attitude and practice of the public in relation to eye health and to assess their knowledge of eye health seeking behaviour. METHODS: A three-stage cluster survey was conducted in 15 selected districts of the five development regions of Nepal from May to December 2017.One hundred clusters and fifty households from each cluster were randomly selected. A semi-structured questionnaire was developed in English and translated into Nepali and back translated by experts. Data were entered in CSPro 5.0.3 software and imported to R 3.4.1 software for analysis. RESULTS: Three fourth of respondents were between the age of 20-59 years (84 %) and one third were female (37.4%). 78% of respondents had basic knowledge about ocular diseases (ranging from 68 to 95%). No single method was found to be more appropriate than the other to provide eye health education to the people living in different geographical locations. Radio was more appropriate to provide health education in Doti and television in Saptari district. Around 2% of the people still depended on drug retailers, 0.6% on self-medication and 0.1% on traditional healers for treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge, attitude and practice of the respondents varied between various districts and with different demographic characteristics. The overall knowledge, attitude and practice score and respondent's knowledge about common eye diseases requires improvement. Different methods can be used to educate public about eye health and common eye diseases.