Knowledge and Attitude of Refractive Error Among Public High School Students in Gondar City

Refractive error (RE) is the main cause of visual impairment and blindness in the world. Lack of knowledge and unfavorable attitude of refractive error can have long-term consequences and dramatic effects in children and adults, such as loss of educational and employment opportunities, loss of economic gain for individuals, families, and societies, and impaired quality of life.

The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitude of refractive error among public high school students in Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia.

A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 390 public high school students. Those participants were selected by applying a systematic random sampling technique with an interval of 4. Data were collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire through face-to-face interviews. The collected data were entered into Epi Info version 7.0 and exported into SPSS version 20 for analysis. Results were described using tables and text.

A total of 390 study participants were included in this study with a 92.4% response rate. The overall proportion of good knowledge and a favorable attitude towards a refractive error were 53.8% and 52.1%, respectively. From the study participants, 38.7%, 41.7%, and 64.1% did not know the definition, the risk factors, and the symptoms of refractive error, respectively. Moreover, about 31.3% of the participants believed that wearing spectacle could damage their eyes, whereas 44.1% of the participants agreed with the need for spectacle correction for young people with RE.

The proportion of good knowledge and a favorable attitude towards refractive error among public high school students were fair. We recommended that eye care practitioners be committed to increasing the knowledge and attitude of students towards refractive error through eye health education to reduce visual impairment due to refractive error.