Prevention of vision disorders at school age: view of secondary school teachers on the problem

Abstract

Background. The relevance of the study is due to the importance of maintaining full vision functions from childhood, which allows for having healthy visual perception for a quality life, learning and work capacity in adolescence and adulthood. The problem is gaining global importance, because according to the forecasts of international experts, the spread of ophthalmic pathology in 2050 will reach such a scale that almost a third of the planet’s population will have impaired vision, with most of cases diagnosed already in childhood. Scientific studies reveal an increase in the frequency of visual impairment among school-aged children. Thus, 8–10 % of the first-graders are diagnosed with ophthalmic pathology, and upon completion of schooling, this indicator can increase to 30–50 %. The purpose was to study the awareness of teachers and lecturers of secondary educational institutions (schools, lyceums) regarding the problems of visual impairment among schoolchildren, their attitude to the problem and willingness to participate in preventive measures. Materials and methods. The materials for the research were the results of a sociological survey of educators of secondary educational institutions from all regions of Ukraine (lecturers, teachers at schools and lyceums), a total of 6,215 questionnaires were subject to analy­sis. The tool for conducting sociological research was the deve­loped Questionnaire of secondary school educators regarding their awareness and willingness to participate in preventive programs to preserve eyesight from childhood. The procedure for filling out the questionnaire included an interview with an interviewer, who verbally informed about the purpose, tasks of sociological research, and its anonymity. Only after obtaining preliminary voluntary verbal consent to participate in the study, respondents were offered to proceed to filling out the questionnaire, which took an average of 15–20 minutes. The research methods were sociological survey, analytical-synthetic, medical-statistical methods, in particular the latter was used to calculate the representativeness and reliability of the survey results. Results. The results of the study prove the importance of the participation of secondary school educators in measures to prevent impairment of visual functions in school-aged children. Despite the high readiness of lecturers and secondary school teachers to engage in preventive activities, their awareness of preventing visual impairment among schoolchildren was found to be insufficient, as was the level of preventive work of medical personnel in schools. It was found that most educators are convinced that a school education worker should be aware of the signs of visual impairment in children (90.46 ± 0.37 %), participate in preventive measures and be familiar with the hygienic norms of visual stress in children (86.39 ± 0.43 %). Most respondents expressed the feasibility of introducing regular systematic supervision of vision functions in school-aged children (99.40 ± 0.10 %) and supporting the implementation of state preventive programs to preserve vision from childhood in Ukraine (97.38 ± 0.20 %), self-critically recognizing the need for informational support regarding the detection of signs and symptoms of these diseases in children (71.70 ± 0.57 %). Conclusions. Visual impairments in children of different ages are of great medical and social importance, as they affect the formation of disorders of socialization and human performance. The results of the study open the prospect of involving secondary school educators in the activities of interdisciplinary comprehensive programs to prevent the development of ophthalmic pathology among school-aged children. The search for effective ways of informational support for educators on the issues of modern preventive technologies, risk factors for the formation of visual impairments in schoolchildren in order to prevent the formation of stigma about children with disabilities and visual impairments in their environment requires scientific justification.