Knowledge about eye health and eye care seeking behaviors among student nurses at Mulago School of Nursing and Midwifery

Abstract

Introduction: The causes of visual impairments are largely preventable with the commonest being uncorrected refractive errors followed by neglected cataract. According to several Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) surveys in different regions of Uganda, prevalence of blindness and moderate and severe visual impairment was highest in the NorthEastern region and lowest in Western region (Ministry of Health). Aim: To assess the knowledge about eye health and eye care seeking behaviors among student nurses at Mulago school of nursing and midwifery Methods: A descriptive cross – sectional study design involving the use of quantitative methods was used for this study. The study utilized nonprobability sampling method using convenient sampling method. Student nurses who were available at the time of data collection were selected and included in the study. Informed consent was obtained from participants and for each participant, data was collected using a pre-designed study questionnaire in English. The data collected was entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. For categorical variables, frequencies were found. And for continuous variables percentages were calculated. Results: A total of 202 student nurses participated in the study. Of these, 43.9% were male and 56.1% were females. 80.4% of the student nurses were in the age range of 2025, Of the student nurses, 16.2% were employed and 83.8% were unemployed. 72 student nurses were from year 3, 74 from year 2 and 56 from year 1. 44%, 36% and 30% for the student nurses in third, second and first year respectively emphasized that a diabetic patient should see a doctor at the time of diagnosis. Majority of the respondents had knowledge about refractive errors (62.9%), glaucoma (61.9%) and cataracts (58.9%).0f the student nurses,30.2% in the third year, 33.2% in the second year and 19.3% in the first year reported that they only went for eye examinations whenever they had eye problems. However, their responses were not significantly associated with their year of study. Conclusion: Majority of the student nurses were generally knowledgeable about the different eye diseases and how they are managed. This was associated with the year of study of the student nurses. Majority of the student nurses reported seeking eye care when they have an eye problem other than for regular checkup and this shows poor eye care seeking behaviors which can lead to sight threatening eye diseases being discovered at an advanced stage.