A cross-sectional study of pediatric eye care perceptions in Ghana, Honduras, and India

Daryl Ramai; Ryan Elliott; Shoshanna Goldin; Tejas Pulisetty

doi:10.1016/j.jegh.2014.06.004

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Volume 5, Issue 2, June 2015, Pages 133 - 142

A cross-sectional study of pediatric eye care perceptions in Ghana, Honduras, and India

Authors

Daryl Ramai^a^{, *}^,dramai@sgu.edu, Ryan Elliott^b, Shoshanna Goldin^c, Tejas Pulisetty^d^{, 1}

^aDepartment of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, St. George’s University, True Blue, WI, Grenada

^bCenter for Health and Wellbeing, Program in Global Health and Health Policy, Program in Latin American Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

^cDepartment of Interdisciplinary Studies, Program in Global Health, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA

^dInstitute of Statistics and Decision Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA

¹

Present address: School of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA.

^*Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 (473) 403 7284.

Corresponding Author

Daryl Ramaidramai@sgu.edu

Received 12 February 2014, Revised 18 June 2014, Accepted 26 June 2014, Available Online 12 August 2014.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2014.06.004 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: Pediatric eye health; Perceptions; Misconceptions; Barriers; Vision 2020
Abstract: Of the more than 1.4 million blind children worldwide, 75% live in developing countries. To reduce the prevalence of childhood blindness and associated diseases, attention is given to understanding the perceptions and level of awareness held by caregivers. This understanding can enable tailored health programs to reduce the global prevalence of blindness with increased efficiency. This study, which took place in Ghana, Honduras, and India, found that 95% of caregivers believed in the importance of eye exams for children, yet 66% of caregivers said that none of their children had ever received an eye exam. Participants’ major reasons for not bringing their children included the belief that their child had no eye problems along with similar and unique socio-economic barriers. Further information was gained through the use of a five-question test on basic child eye care symptoms, which showed that out of the three country locations, the studied population in India had the least understanding about pediatric eye symptoms. Further analysis revealed significant gaps in understanding of general eye health while detected knowledge barriers provide evidence that fundamental misconceptions appear to be inhibiting caregivers’ competence in facilitating their children’s eye health.
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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Journal: Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue: 5 - 2
Pages: 133 - 142
Publication Date: 2014/08/12
ISSN (Online): 2210-6014
ISSN (Print): 2210-6006
DOI: 10.1016/j.jegh.2014.06.004 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Cite this article

ris enw bib

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Daryl Ramai
AU  - Ryan Elliott
AU  - Shoshanna Goldin
AU  - Tejas Pulisetty
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2014/08/12
TI  - A cross-sectional study of pediatric eye care perceptions in Ghana, Honduras, and India
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 133
EP  - 142
VL  - 5
IS  - 2
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2014.06.004
DO  - 10.1016/j.jegh.2014.06.004
ID  - Ramai2014
ER  -

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