Faculty of Health Sciences, Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5, Canada.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Aug 8;20(16):6547. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20166547.
Uncorrected refractive error has been suggested to affect children's development, educational performance, and socialization. Sociodemographic and environmental differences among individuals may impact their accessibility to utilizing appropriate services, impacting their vision-dependent activities.
Guided by the population health framework, this retrospective study assessed the prevalence of self-reported vision correction needs and its determinants for a sample of adolescents (n = 6363) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) aged 13 to 20 years between 2007 to 2009.
The findings suggest a relatively high prevalence of self-reported vision correction needs (26.8%), with among 24.8% males and 31.7% among females. Factors that were significantly associated with vision correction needs included age, biological sex, location of residence (emirate), nationality, parental education and employment level, household financial status, screen time use, visiting an eye specialist in the past year, and daily functional capacity.
Reporting the vision correction needs of the adolescent population and identifying its determinants may help identify and resolve modifiable barriers to accessing the appropriate vision care resources. Further research in assessing the type of refractive error, potential genetic and environmental factors, and vision care services in each emirate may help decision-makers set appropriate policies to improve the overall quality of eye health.
未矫正的屈光不正被认为会影响儿童的发展、学业表现和社交能力。个体之间的社会人口学和环境差异可能会影响他们获得适当服务的机会，从而影响他们依赖视力的活动。
本回顾性研究以人口健康框架为指导，评估了阿联酋（UAE）2007 年至 2009 年间年龄在 13 至 20 岁的青少年（n = 6363）样本中自我报告的视力矫正需求及其决定因素的流行率。
研究结果表明，自我报告的视力矫正需求具有较高的流行率（26.8%），其中男性为 24.8%，女性为 31.7%。与视力矫正需求显著相关的因素包括年龄、生物性别、居住地点（酋长国）、国籍、父母教育和就业水平、家庭经济状况、屏幕时间使用、过去一年是否看眼科专家以及日常功能能力。
报告青少年人群的视力矫正需求并确定其决定因素，可能有助于发现和解决获得适当视力保健资源的可改变障碍。进一步研究评估每个酋长国的屈光不正类型、潜在遗传和环境因素以及视力保健服务，可能有助于决策者制定适当的政策，提高整体眼健康质量。
