Risk Management and Healthcare Policy (Nov 2024)
Does Vision Health Knowledge Matter? A Cross-Sectional Study of Primary School Students in Rural China
Abstract
Zhaofeng Pang,1 Xiyuan Jia,2 Ming Zhou,2 Xinwu Zhang,3 Cindy Feng,3 Yue Ma3 1School of Politics and Public Administration, Northwest University of Political Science and Law, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Public Administration, Northwest University, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China; 3Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USACorrespondence: Xinwu Zhang, Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, Stanford University, 616 Jane Stanford Way, Palo Alto, CA, USA, Email [email protected]: To estimate the prevalence, consequences of, and factors associated with poor vision health knowledge among students, parents, and teachers in rural China.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 17,902 students among 251 primary schools in rural China. The primary outcomes were eyeglasses ownership and wear rates, measured by self-reported eyeglasses ownership and wear status. Descriptive and multivariable regression analyses were performed.Results: Students, parents, and teachers had a high prevalence of poor vision health knowledge, with 90% of students, 86% of parents, and 56% of teachers scoring 4 or below on the study’s vision knowledge test. Among 2,893 students needing eyeglasses, only 563 (19.46%) owned eyeglasses and 450 (15.55%) wore them. Both student and parental vision health knowledge were positively associated with eyeglasses ownership (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Parental vision health knowledge also showed a positive association with eyeglasses wear (p=0.098). Students with higher parental vision health knowledge and male students had higher vision health knowledge. Parents with higher education levels, at least one family member wearing eyeglasses, medium to high family wealth demonstrated higher levels of vision health knowledge.Conclusion: We found that poor vision health knowledge is prevalent among children, parents, and teachers in rural western China, and that prevalent visual impairment among children is accompanied by low eyeglasses ownership and wear rates. We also found positive and significant correlations between students’ and parental vision health knowledge and students’ eyeglasses ownership, as well as between parental vision health knowledge and students’ eyeglasses wear rates, suggesting that efforts are needed to improve vision health knowledge among students and parents in rural China.Keywords: vision health knowledge, eyeglasses / spectacles ownership, eyeglasses / spectacles wear, primary students, rural China
