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Purpose: The study intends to evaluate the demographic and clinical profile of pediatric patients (0–18 years) attending six vision centers (VCs) of a tertiary eye care facility in south India. Methods: This is a cross-sectional observation study conducted at six major peripheral VCs of a tertiary eye care facility in South India from June 20 to Dec 20. All children presenting at the VCs under a base hospital (BH) in Pondicherry, whose parents gave consent were included. Data were entered by the ophthalmic assistants in the VC and cross checked by the principal investigator at the BH. Results: A total of 250 pediatric patients were brought to the VCs during the study period, predominantly males (60.8%), with a mean age of 8.2 ± 4.5 years (0–18 years). Half of them were staying within 5 km from the VCs. Most children were escorted by their parents (88%), and the expenditure of travel to the VC was affordable for most of the parents (75%). Also, 53.6% of patients were in their primary school, while schooling had not started for 28% of children. Visual acuity (VA) could be assessed only for school-going children and older children due to lack of age-matched VA assessment tools. Most children (91.3%) had uncorrected VA better than or equal to 6/18 in the better eye, and approximately 3% had VA worse than 6/60. All patients had best corrected VA of 6/6–6/18 after cycloplegic refraction. Most children reported to the VC for allergic conjunctivitis (25%), followed by refractive error (13%) and squint (10.4%). Urgent referral to the BH was made for 47 children. Conclusion: Primary eye care in pediatric population-I (PREPP-I) showed that most children can be treated at the VCs and only one-fifth of the children require active intervention at higher referral centers. Further study on satisfaction of services provided for pediatric patients in these VCs and barriers of not reporting to the BH when referred are considered for the PREPP-II study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To study the prevalence and determinants of compliance with spectacle wear among school-age children in South India who were given spectacles free of charge under a school vision screening program. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed. The participants were recruited from the school from Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts of Tamil Nadu, where a school vision screening camp was conducted between January 2012 and October 2012. The school screening was performed under "Lavelle Pediatric Eye Care Project". Of the 129,720 children examined of 249 schools, 4253 of children had refractive error and 3333 were prescribed and dispensed spectacles. A total of 683 children were interviewed, who were not wearing glasses on follow-up. Results: About 20% of the participants (683/3333) were not wearing their spectacles at examination. The most common reasons given for non-wear were lost (44.9%) or broken (35.3%) spectacles. There was no gender preference on compliance to spectacles. Conclusion: Compliance with spectacle wear is less even when spectacles are provided free of cost, particularly in children among the age group of 5–15 years. Because factors such as type of school, area (urban or rural), parent's income, occupation, and their education were not significantly affecting the compliance of spectacle wear, proper encouragement and counseling of the parents and the child become extremely important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]