Spectacles need and ownership among multiethnic students in rural China

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Vision impairment is a significant public health issue in school-aged children.
• Understanding the prevalence and factors related to vision correction needs is crucial for targeted interventions.
• Rural populations often face greater barriers to accessing eye care services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of spectacles need and ownership among multiethnic school students in rural China.
• To identify factors associated with spectacles need and ownership in this population.

Main Methods:

• A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Yunnan province, China.
• Data were collected via questionnaires from 7166 students (aged 5-16) and their parents.
• Spectacles need was defined by uncorrected visual acuity and refractive error criteria.

Main Results:

• The prevalence of spectacles need was 68.3% among students with poor uncorrected visual acuity.
• Only 18.9% of students who needed spectacles actually owned them.
• Spectacles ownership was associated with older age, increased reading/writing time, having myopic friends, self-awareness of myopia, and poorer uncorrected visual acuity.

Conclusions:

• Rural Chinese children exhibit a lower rate of spectacles ownership compared to their urban counterparts.
• The findings underscore a critical gap in vision health resources and access in rural China.
• These results have significant public health implications for vision care resource allocation globally.