Contact lens usage and health literacy among Turkish adults

Year 2022, , 67 - 72, 31.01.2022

Gokce Dagtekın Alaettin Unsal Seval Calıskan Pala Ece Elif Ocal Didem Arslantas Tulay Sımsek

https://doi.org/10.5472/marumj.1065801

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the usage of contact lenses and health literacy among ophthalmology clinic outpatients..
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on outpatients of an ophthalmology clinic between July and September
2019. The data were collected using a questionnaire that consisted of questions about sociodemographic characteristics, contact lensrelated
behaviors, the European Health Literacy Scale (HLS-EU) Short-Form, and the Ocular Surface Disease Index. Contact lensrelated
behavior was evaluated through 15 questions. P < 0.05 was accepted as statistically significant.
Results: In the study group 402 (54.8%) of the participants were males. The ages of the patients ranged between 18 and 75 years, with
a mean (SD) of 39.20 (15.0) years. It was found that 28.4% (n = 208) of the study group participants were contact lens wearers. The
health literacy level was higher in the contact lens wearers. A positive correlation was found between the scores of the HLS-EU and the
answers to the contact lens-related behavior questions.
Conclusion: In this study, we found that the health literacy levels of the contact lens wearers were higher than those of the non-contact
lens wearers. As the health literacy of the patients increased, the behaviors towards the correct use of contact lenses improved. It is
recommended that more detailed studies be carried out in the field of health literacy with contact lens use.

Keywords

Contact lenses, Dry eye syndrome, Eye diseases, Health literacy

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