The Role Of An Optometrist In Prevention Of Ocular Injury

The optometrist has an important role to play in prevention of eye injuries. In practice, a thorough history of patients should be taken and a detailed analysis of the visual requirements made.

What are the patients' hobbies? Do they play sports? Do they enjoy gardening? Do they carry out DIY? Do they ride a motorcycle or bicycle? What is their occupation and does this involve potential ocular hazards? From this information potential ocular hazards can be discussed, along with the need for eye protection where necessary. The need for protective lenses for the patient with an amblyopic eye should not be forgotten. The optometrist may also help reduce the number of injuries in industry by setting up Eye Protection Programmes.

Perception Of Risk    

It is well known that there is widespread wearer resistance to using eye protectors in hazardous industries. This was clearly shown in the survey by MacEwen, who found that, in 85 percent per of injuries that occurred at work, eye protection was not being worn when it should have been. There is concern that people do not take the available measures to protect their health in general and that health messages frequently do not achieve the desire effect. Various theories have been proposed to explain this attitude of indifference to health hazards.

It has been suggested in Health Belief Model that a person's behavior depended on various factors such as: the degree of perceived risk, the perceived benefits of taking preventative measures and the perceived barriers, e.g. inconvenience. A more recent model, the dual Process Model, emphasizes the role of a person's experience based on past personal knowledge and the information from friends, colleagues, the media and their doctor. Hence it concentrates on how an individual's 'perception' relevant to the Health Belief Model are formed.

Recommended: Incidences Of Eye Injuries

If the risk of receiving an eye injury is perceived as high, a person is more likely to wear an eye protector. It is suggested that an individual learns to appreciate risks through experiencing either an injury to themselves or a friend. Hence a worker who has not had such a past experience will generally perceive the risk as being moderate. However, this is not always the case. In one study, a decreased perception of risk was found in workers who had survived, or who had seen others survive, eye injuries. This study investigated the relationship between past experience of eye injuries in chemical industry workers and their attitude towards the use of safety spectacles.

The publicizing of eye injuries as a warning might have a negative effect, as in some cases the worker will inform colleagues that 'it wasn't actually so bad'. In other cases the effect of 'near misses', was useful, as there was a clear association between having eye sight saved by eye protection and perceived risk. Caution must therefore be exercised when publicizing eye injuries as a warning to workers.

From the study, the following recommendations to promote eye safety were made.

1. Educational effects should be directed at the younger employees, as they are less convinced about the risk they run when not wearing eye protection. Note that they often do not have the added benefit of improved vision through the use of prescription safety spectacles.
2. The publicizing of eye injuries must be considered carefully.
3. It may be beneficial to counsel workers after an eye injury to determine the perception of risk of their occupation. If their perception of risk is low, then efforts can be more inclined to wear their eye protection.
4. Reasons for not wearing eye protection should be determined.
5. The possibility of compulsory wear should not be overlooked but it should not be enforced in a heavy-handed manner.

Continue from: Eye Protection Programme

Photo Credit: Cehjournal.org