Awareness, knowledge, and barriers to vision therapy services among eye care practitioners
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20250625Keywords:
Awareness, Behavioural optometry, Knowledge, Vision therapyAbstract
Background: Vision therapy (VT) is recognized as an effective treatment for various binocular and accommodative disorders. However, the awareness and integration of VT among eye care professionals (ECPs) remain limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness and understanding of vision therapy among eye care professionals, specifically optometrists and ophthalmologists, in India.
Methods: Cross-sectional research conducted from June to November 2024, comprising Indian optometrists and ophthalmologists. A validated 19-item questionnaire was created through expert consultation and pilot testing. It was disseminated both online and in person, accompanied by reminders for non-respondents. SPSS v29 assessed awareness, knowledge, and barriers employing Cronbach's alpha and Kruskal-Wallis tests (p<0.05).
Results: 251 practitioners across six Indian states, revealed that 36.9% reported vergence problems and 27.2% identified sensory motor anomalies as predominant binocular vision concerns. Barriers were the substantial expense of vision therapy kits (47.41%) and patient apathy (97.6%). The Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that educational quality substantially influenced knowledge and awareness (p<0.01).
Conclusions: Public health efforts aimed at teaching eye care practitioners on vision therapy can enhance referral practices, hence improving health outcomes for patients. Moreover, augmenting practitioners' comprehension of vision therapy would enable them to advocate proficiently for these services, tackling the current obstacles encountered by patients.
Metrics
References
Maples WC. AM Skeffington: the father of behavioral optometry-his contributions. In Ophthalm Measurem Optomet. 1998;3579:17-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.328320
Wang B, Kuwera E. Vision therapy: A primer and caution for pediatricians. Children. 2022;9(12):1873. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/children9121873
Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial Study Group. Randomized clinical trial of treatments for symptomatic convergence insufficiency in children. Arch Ophthalmol. 2008;126(10):1336-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/archopht.126.10.1336
Scheiman M, Mitchell GL, Cotter S, Cooper J, Kulp M, Rouse M, et al. A randomized clinical trial of treatments for convergence insufficiency in children. Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123(1):14-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/archopht.123.1.14
Hussaindeen JR, Rakshit A, Singh NK, George R, Swaminathan M, Kapur S, et al. Prevalence of non‐strabismic anomalies of binocular vision in Tamil Nadu: report 2 of BAND study. Clin Experim Optomet. 2017;100(6):642-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.12496
Mandal R, Kamath R. Prevalence of non-strabismic binocular vision dysfunction in a hospital based population. Ind J Foren Medi Toxicol. 2020;14(3):790-4.
Magdalene D, Dutta P, Choudhury M, Deshmukh S, Gupta K. Clinical profile of nonstrabismic binocular vision anomalies in patients with asthenopia in North-East India. J Oph Sci Res. 2017;55(3):182-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/tjosr.tjosr_36_17
Mondal M, Ghosh AK, Dutta S. Prevalence and pattern of amblyopia among children attending at tertiary eye care centre in Eastern India. Int J Res Medi Sci. 2022;10(2):435-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20220288
Magdalene D, Bhattacharjee H, Choudhury M, Multani PK, Singh A, Deshmukh S, et al. Community outreach: An indicator for assessment of prevalence of amblyopia. Ind J Ophthalmol. 2018;66(7):940-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijo.IJO_1335_17
Piñero DP, Bataille L, Martínez-Plaza E, Molina-Martín A. Professional perspective and practice patterns of vision therapy in Spain. Clin Experim Optomet. 2024;107(3):341-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08164622.2023.2215383
Barrett BT. A critical evaluation of the evidence supporting the practice of behavioural vision therapy. Ophthal Physiolog Optics. 2009;29(1):4-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-1313.2008.00607.x
World Health Organization. Blindness and vision impairment, 2023. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment. Accessed 01 December 2024.
Hegde N, Bandamwar K, Annapurna M, Murali K, Rao D. Awareness and attitude towards digital screen-based binocular vision therapy amongst eye care practitioners of Karnataka. ECS Transact. 2022;107(1):7229. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1149/10701.7229ecst
Scheiman M, Wick B. Clinical management of binocular vision: heterophoric, accommodative, and eye movement disorders. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008.
Evans BJ. Pickwell's binocular vision anomalies. Elsevier Health Sciences; 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-73317-5.00001-4
Jang J, Jang J. The status of General Binocular Dysfunctions among school children. MJOP. 2017;2:22-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18689/mjop-1000107
Atiya A, Hussaindeen JR, Kasturirangan S, Ramasubramanian S, Swathi K, Swaminathan M. Frequency of undetected binocular vision anomalies among ophthalmology trainees. J Optomet. 2020;13(3):185-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optom.2020.01.003
Piñero D. Science-based vision therapy. J Optom. 2016;9(4):203-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optom.2016.07.001
Inagaki R. Theories and practical methods of prism prescription. Jpn Orthopt J. 2018;47:29-37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4263/jorthoptic.047S003
Tamhankar MA, Ying GS, Volpe NJ. Effectiveness of prisms in the management of diplopia in patients due to diverse etiologies. J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabis. 2012;49(4):222-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3928/01913913-20120221-02
Jose J, Thomas J, Bhakat P, Krithica S. Awareness, knowledge, and barriers to low vision services among eye care practitioners. Oman J Ophthalmol. 2016;9(1):37-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-620X.176099
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
