Centre for Public Health, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
Clinical and Epidemiological Eye Research Center, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
PLoS One. 2021 Nov 18;16(11):e0259309. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259309. eCollection 2021.
Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is a major cause of vision impairment in children worldwide. Cases are often detected through a school-based vision screening program and then treated in a follow-up appointment. This requires parents or guardians ('parents') to adhere to referrals for the eye exam and care plan. We aim to understand the reasons for parents' referral non-adherence in Cross River State, Nigeria, using qualitative methods.
Ten focus groups were held with parents who had not adhered to the referral for a follow-up eye examination. Participants were recruited with help from staff in schools hosting the vision screening programme. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide, audio taped and transcribed verbatim. After identifying relevant quotes, the researchers labelled each one with a descriptive code/subcode label. Then they clustered the data into categories and overarching themes.
Forty-four parents participated in 10 focus group discussions with 28 women and 16 men. Three themes and participated in the focus group discussions with 28 women (63%). Twelve themes were generated. The three megathemes were Modifiable Factors (with 4 themes), Contextual Factors (with 6 themes), and Recommendations (with 2 themes).
Participants identified modifiable barriers that make it difficult for parents to adhere to a referral for a follow-up eye exam. These include not believing their child has a vision problem or the screening test, and issues with the referral letter. They also described important contextual factors such as poverty, logistical problems, parental attitudes towards their children and beliefs about appropriate care. Many of these issues could be addressed by following their recommendation to educate the public on the importance of child eye care and correct parents' misconceptions. These themes will be used by the Nigerian government to enhance and scale up its child eye health programme.
未矫正的屈光不正（URE）是全球儿童视力损害的主要原因。病例通常通过基于学校的视力筛查计划发现，然后在后续预约中进行治疗。这需要父母或监护人（“父母”）遵守眼部检查和护理计划的转诊。我们旨在使用定性方法了解尼日利亚克罗斯河州父母转诊不依从的原因。
与未遵守后续眼部检查转诊的父母进行了 10 次焦点小组讨论。参与者是在参与视力筛查计划的学校工作人员的帮助下招募的。访谈采用半结构化访谈指南进行，录音并逐字转录。在确定相关引语后，研究人员用描述性代码/子代码标签对每个引语进行标记。然后，他们将数据聚类为类别和总体主题。
44 名父母参加了 10 次焦点小组讨论，其中 28 名女性和 16 名男性。产生了三个主题和 10 次焦点小组讨论，其中 28 名女性（63%）参加了焦点小组讨论。产生了 12 个主题。三个主题是可修改的因素（4 个主题）、背景因素（6 个主题）和建议（2 个主题）。
参与者确定了使父母难以遵守后续眼部检查转诊的可修改障碍。这些障碍包括不相信孩子有视力问题或筛查测试，以及转诊信的问题。他们还描述了重要的背景因素，例如贫困、后勤问题、父母对子女的态度以及对适当护理的看法。许多这些问题可以通过遵循他们的建议来解决，即教育公众了解儿童眼保健的重要性并纠正父母的误解。这些主题将被尼日利亚政府用于加强和扩大其儿童眼健康计划。
