Knowledge and beliefs associated with refractive errors and undercorrection: the Singapore Malay Eye Study.
OBJECTIVE
Refractive errors, especially if undercorrected, are a common and important cause of poor vision, particularly in Asia. The knowledge and beliefs of refractive errors and possible impact of undercorrection in a population-based study in Singapore are described.


METHODS
This study was a substudy on 503 subjects with refractive error from a population-based survey of 3280 adult Malays in Singapore aged 40 to 80 years. The Health Belief Model was used to develop a questionnaire, subjects with refractive errors were evaluated on their health beliefs towards adopting health-seeking behaviour for correction of refractive error, and the responses were compared between undercorrected subjects and subjects with corrected refractive errors.


RESULTS
Of persons with myopia, 79.5% had heard of myopia, 79.2% of hyperopes had heard of hyperopia, while only 7.7% of those with astigmatism had heard of astigmatism. Adults who had never previously visited an eye-care specialist were less likely to have heard of astigmatism and to know that they have refractive error (p<0.01). Adults with undercorrected refractive error were more likely to be female (61.1% vs 49.3%) and not wear spectacles (41.7% vs 22.3%). Knowledge on astigmatism (1.4% vs 5.6%) and refractive errors (62.6% vs 77.5%) were significantly lower in the undercorrected group.


CONCLUSIONS
The lack of knowledge and awareness of refractive errors are important risk factors for undercorrected refractive error in an urban Singapore population.
Singapore National Eye Center, Singapore.
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000523:psychology; D012846:Singapore; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000523:psychology