Skip to main content

  • Why Children Do—and Don’t—Wear Their Eyeglasses

    By Lynda Seminara
    Selected and Reviewed By: Neil M. Bressler, MD, and Deputy Editors
    Add to My Bookmarks

    Journal Highlights

    JAMA Ophthalmology, April 2019

    Download PDF

    Nearly 13 million children worldwide have visual impairment resulting from uncorrected refractive errors. Although eyeglasses are a simple and cost-effec­tive solution, low adherence to specta­cle wear can occur in any income set­ting. Morjaria et al. looked at predictors of spectacle adherence among students aged 11 to 15 years. They found that the greatest predictors of spectacle wear were “poorer presenting visual acuity [VA]” and “greater improvement in VA with correction.” The main reason for nonwear was bullying or teasing by peers. The predictors of adherence support using prescribing guidelines such as those in this study.

    The study was a planned analysis of secondary objectives from a non­inferiority study among students who fulfilled eligibility criteria, including correction improvement of at least 2 lines in the better eye. Participants were recruited from government schools in Bangalore, India. Masked observers documented the rate of compliance to spectacle wear during unannounced visits to the schools several months after the spectacles had been distributed.

    Of the 460 participants, follow-up information was available on 362 (78.7%). At that time, 92 (25.4%) were not wearing their eyeglasses. The main reason for nonwear was teasing or bullying by peers (48.9%), followed by lost, forgotten, or stolen spectacles (26.1%). Headaches and parental disapproval also had an impact, with headaches and discomfort reported by more boys than girls (10.4% vs. 4.5%, respectively), and parental disapproval directed more at girls than boys (11.4% vs. 4.2%, respectively).

    Students with poorer presenting VA and greater correction of VA were more likely to be wearing their eyeglasses: Those whose uncorrected VA was less than 6/18 (20/60) in the better eye were nearly three times more likely to be wearing their spectacles than were those whose VA ranged from less than 6/9 to 6/12 (20/30 to 20/40; adjusted odds ratio [OR], 2.84). Compared with correction resulting in improvement of 3 lines or less, correction of 3 to 6 lines was associated with an adjusted OR of 2.31, and correction of at least 6 lines had an adjusted OR of 2.57.

    The fact that most students were wearing their eyeglasses at follow-up supports the use of prescribing guide­lines in this study. (Spectacles are pro­vided for students who require correc­tion of at least 2 lines in the better eye.)

    The authors emphasized the impor­tance of interventions to reduce teasing and bullying. However, they also ac­knowledged that it would be difficult to address the issues underlying parental disapproval. (Also see related commen­tary by Vivian Manh, OD, MS, in the same issue.)

    The original article can be found here.