Eye Glasses Compliance among Children Undergoing School Visual Acuity Screening in Nepal

The World Health Organization estimates that 13 million children aged 5-15 years worldwide are visually impaired from uncorrected refractive error [1]. Uncorrected refractive errors are the most common cause of visual impairment in school children in Nepal [2,3]. Correction of refractive error through provision of spectacles improves vision related quality of life and self reported visual function [4-6]. School visual acuity screening in Nepal is conducted by the Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh through various eye hospitals [7] with support from many charitable and nongovernment organizations. However, in many areas, even when spectacles are provided for significant visual impairment, they are worn by fewer than 1 in 6 children and are available for use at school in less than half of the cases [8]. Unless compliance is high good, the efforts taken to provide corrective lenses are wasted. School vision screening programs in Nepal provide glasses following testing, but they do not include regular follow-up visits to deal with technical problems or to promote eye glass use. As a result, no one knows how many of those children provided free spectacles are actually wearing them and whether regular visits increase compliance. Our study determined spectacle –wear compliance among children in Nepal.