Ajay Santhosh David, J (2022) To Determine the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Patterns Regarding Suppurative Corneal Ulcers in the Drainage Population of a Tertiary Eye Hospital in South India. Masters thesis, Christian Medical College, Vellore.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of patients with respect to corneal ulcers in our drainage population. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of patients who have never had a corneal ulcer, using a validated questionnaire to quantitatively assess the extent of Knowledge, Attitude and the Practice patterns of eligible patients was performed. A pilot study was done in order to be able to calculate an adequate sample size. Eligible patients from the general population surrounding our institution and were recruited from the waiting areas of: 1. Department of Ophthalmology, Christian Medical College, Schell Campus, Vellore. 2. Community Health and Development Unit, CMC, Bagayam (CHAD). 3. Low Cost Effective Care Unit, Schell Campus, Vellore (LCECU). The proforma contained questions which had scores assigned for each answer, in each of the 3 domains of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice. The scores were then quantitated and then analysed. A sub analysis based on area of residence (Urban / Urban slums / Slums), area from which they were recruited and diabetes, was also done. RESULTS: The complete sample size of 300 participants (100 from each of the 3 areas from where recruitment was done). About 1/3 of the participants were diabetic. 53 % of all the participants were from the urban areas of the city of Vellore. 39 % of people were from urban slum area in and around Vellore and 8% of people were from slums. We found that only 8% of the participants knew what a corneal ulcer was, even after a brief explanation in their native languages. Even in those patients who did know what a corneal ulcer was, knowledge regarding aetiology, risk factors and outcomes of corneal ulcers was found to be very limited. Diabetics, a high risk population for infections including corneal ulcers, also demonstrated very inadequate knowledge regarding corneal ulcers. Regarding the attitude of the subjects, we found that there were a significant number of people who felt that a general practitioner would be able to treat the ulcer and many felt that the local chemist would give good drops for the ulcer. On assessing the population about the Practices they follow to protect their eyes to reduce the risk of corneal ulcers we found that only about 1/3 of the participants used some forms of protection for their eyes in risky environments. 52 out of the 300 participants had also used native treatment methods like breast milk (48), coconut oil (25%) and even licking the eyes. Most of the participants (86%) however, had gone to an eye specialist for treatment of any eye problems they had, and 50% of these had gone immediately, and only about 5% of subjects said they waited till symptoms worsened before meeting an eye doctor. The total Knowledge score was similar in the samples from all the 3 areas. The Attitude score as well as the Practice scores were highest in the patients recruited from CHAD (p= 0.002 and 0.037). The total KAP score also was highest in the patients recruited from CHAD compared to the other groups (11.45). The total score of the CHAD group was also higher than the mean total sample score (10.87). Sub analysis revealed that the participants from urban areas and better scores than those from suburban or Slum area. CONCLUSION: There was a gross lack of knowledge and awareness about corneal ulcers among residents in and around Vellore. The diabetic population also had low level of awareness about corneal ulcers, in spite of being a high risk population for corneal ulcers. The participants from CHAD had the highest insights among the population studied, regarding corneal ulcers, but even their knowledge was inadequate. The people residing in urban areas showed higher KAP scores, but even their knowledge was inadequate.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
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| Additional Information: | 221913301 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Corneal ulcer, Knowledge, Attitude, Practices, corneal transplantation, risk of corneal ulcer, traditional practices, diabetics, KAP score. |
| Subjects: | MEDICAL > Ophthalmology > MEDICAL > Ophthalmology |
| Depositing User: | Subramani R |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Apr 2021 09:54 |
| Last Modified: | 08 Jan 2024 03:19 |
| URI: | http://repository-tnmgrmu.ac.in/id/eprint/14603 |
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