Anne Claus
Pronouns: She, Her
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: Olivia J. Killeen, Anne Claus, Amani Mubeen, Lydia Kim, Juno Cho, Sarah A. Raven, Grace M. Wang, Maria Woodward, Paula Anne Newman-Casey, Tammy Chang
Presenter: 107
Abstract
Purpose: Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is common among U.S. youth. We aimed to understand how youth perceive eyesight compared to other aspects of their health, as valuing vision highly could facilitate treating URE. Methods: An open-ended 5 question poll was distributed to the MyVoice Text Message Cohort of U.S. youth aged 14–24 years (www.hearmyvoicenow.org). Question 1 asked, “How important is your eyesight compared to other aspects of your health? Why?†Respondents’ demographic information was analyzed. Low socioeconomic status (SES) was defined as receiving free or reduced-price lunch. Text message responses were coded with modified Grounded Theory. Results: Of 1204 recipients, 1063 (88.3%) responded. Mean age was 20.3 ±2.4 years (range 15-24 years); 625 (58.8%) were male; 787 (74.0%) were white; and 440 (41.4%) had low SES. Over half (n=609, 57.3%) reported eyesight was very important, 296 (27.8%) reported it was somewhat important and 90 (8.5%) reported that it was not important. Nearly half (n=507, 47.7%) reported eyesight was needed for daily life (e.g. “sight is one of the most important aspects of my health because in our time everything is technology and imagesâ€), 152 (14.3%) discussed personal or family experiences with vision problems (e.g. “very important, I’ve had two blind family members and I am hard of hearing so if my vision goes I’m very screwedâ€), and 68 (6.4%) expressed fear of developing eye problems (e.g. “very [important], I would be severely depressed if I lost [my eyesight]â€). Conclusions: U.S. youth value vision highly compared to other aspects of their health, yet there are high rates of URE in this population. Future research should focus on identifying barriers to eyeglasses.
Biomedical Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Interdisciplinary, Public Health, Social Sciences
