Amani Mubeen
Pronouns:
Research Mentor(s): Olivia Killeen
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Department of Ophthalmology / Medicine
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 2 – 11am – 11:50am
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Amani Mubeen, Olivia Killeen
Presenter: 106
Abstract
Purpose: Uncorrected Refractive Error (URE) among youth is associated with decreased school performance and productivity. We aimed to investigate youth experiences with glasses and contacts, as prior experiences with refractive correction are potential facilitators or barriers to correcting URE. Methods: A five-question survey including open-ended questions about experiences with refractive correction was sent to the MyVoice Text Message Cohort of U.S. youth aged 14–24 years (www.hearmyvoicenow.org). Responses were coded by two team members independently using a modified grounded theory approach, and disagreements in coding were resolved by consensus. Results: In total, 1063 participants out of 1204 responded (88.3%). The mean age of participants was 20.3 ± 2.4 years (range 15-24 years); 32.5% (n=346) were female; and 74.0% (n=787) were white. Nearly two thirds (65.8%; n=699) had experienced trouble with their eyesight, and 63.6% (n=676) had worn glasses and/or contacts. Some (31.7%, n=337) discussed a preference for glasses or contacts; of those, 83.7% (n=282) preferred glasses and 16.3% (n=55) preferred contacts. The most common reasons for preferring glasses were problems with contacts (12.8%, n=36, e.g. “I wear glasses because I cannot put contacts in for the life of meâ€) and convenience (4.3%, n=12, e.g. “I still wear my glasses because I think they’re less work than contactsâ€). The most common reasons for preferring contacts were convenience (16.4%, n=9, e.g. “I wear corrective contacts so I can avoid the hassle of having glassesâ€), problems with glasses (12.7%, n=7, e.g. “I wear both, mostly contacts day to day because with masks they don’t fog up like glasses doâ€), cosmesis (10.9%, n=6, e.g. “If I’m being active or planning on wearing makeup I’ll wear my contactsâ€) and preference for wearing contacts for sports (10.9%, n=6, e.g. “I do wear both, mostly contacts so that I can go swimming with easeâ€). Conclusions: Glasses may be more popular than contact lenses among U.S. youth. Future work should address youth barriers to glasses to improve access to refractive correction.
Biomedical Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Interdisciplinary, Public Health, Social Sciences
