Reasons for spectacle reassessment in a tertiary eye care centre over a period of six years.

BACKGROUND

To determine the spectacle reassessment rates of dissatisfied patients returning to the optical services department of a tertiary eye centre in India over a period of six years.

METHODS

A total of 169,567 spectacles were dispensed from the optical services department between January 2010 and December 2015. The spectacle reassessment forms of dissatisfied patients who returned to the optical services department with their spectacles were analysed.

RESULTS

A total of 797 spectacle reassessment forms were analysed. The overall spectacle reassessment rate during the study period was found to be 0.5% (95% CI: 0.467-0.472). The mean age of patients returning back for spectacle reassessment was 48 years (SD 19.9, range 3-97 years). Error in refractive correction measurement was found to be the most common reason for spectacle reassessment (54.7%), followed by dispensing error (21.1%), documentation errors while writing the prescription from the medical records in the tertiary eye care centre (12.7%), transcription error occurring at the optical services department (10.8%) and ocular pathologies (0.8%). No statistically significant difference was observed in the year-wise spectacle reassessment rates during the study period (p = 0.14).

CONCLUSIONS

The frequency of spectacle reassessment rate in a tertiary eye care centre was low, with errors in measuring refractive errors contributing the most to the reassessment and reorder of spectacles.