Knowledge, attitude and practice among students attending public high schools in Nairobi county
Date
2016Author
Nyamai, LA
Kanyata, D
Njambi, L
Njuguna, M
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objective: To determine the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) towards refractive error among high school
students attending public schools in Nairobi, Kenya.
Methods: Population survey of secondary school year 3 students in Nairobi County. Students were selected using
multistage random sampling. Sampled students were enrolled after obtaining informed consent. Participating
students completed a self-administered semi structured questionnaire to obtain basic demographic data and
determine their KAP towards refractive error.
Results: A total of 11 out of 80 eligible schools were selected and 1390 students enrolled into the study. The
mean age of the students was 17 years, and 54% were males. Only 539 (39%) of the 1390 students had ever had
an eye-checkup. Overall 418 (30.1%) of the students did not know whether they had normal vision or not, and
316 (22.7%) did not know where to seek eye-health services. The students believed, as reported by 526 (37.8%)
students, that the most common reason for poor vision was inadequate nutrition. Spectacles were identified
as the commonest method of correcting poor vision by 851 (61.2%) students. Of 427(30.7%) students who
had been advised to wear spectacles during previous screenings, only 148 (10.5%) of them admitted to using
spectacles, The commonest reasons for students failing to wear spectacles to correct poor vision were; fear of
being teased and cost as reported by 529 (38.1%) and 488 (35.1%) students respectively. Generally, students had
a positive attitude towards spectacles but the myths that spectacles can damage your eyes, lead to dependence,
or worsen eyesight were still prevalent.
Conclusion: Accessibility and affordability of eye-health services are the major reasons for non-correction of
low vision. There is also inadequate knowledge of refractive error as a cause of poor vision. However, attitudes
towards spectacle use are generally positive.
Citation
J Ophthalmol East Cent & S Afr. July 2016; 20(1): 33-39Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10378]
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