Cataract referral practice and associated factors among primary healthcare workers in Central Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2023.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to assess the level of Cataract Referral Practice And Associated Factors Among Primary Healthcare Workers in Central Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia,2023.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 284 primary health care workers selected through systematic random sampling from June to August, 2023. Data were collected using a pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire. The data were entered into EPI Info version 7 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. A binary logistic regression model was used to identify out enabling factors for referral practice. The strength of association was expressed by odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval, and factors with a p- value less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant.

Results: Among 284 primary health care workers, 96.1% (273) participated in the study with an average age of 30 years. Thirty-seven(13.6%) had received inservice training about cataracts. The proportion of good referral practice was 21.9% [95% CI (17.4-27.2.0)]. It was significantly associated with insevice training about cataract [AOR = 3.13, 95%CI (1.31-7.45)].

Conclusion: The study revealed that only a few study participants demonstrated good referral practice, which was linked to recieving training. It is better to increase efforts of practice by giving inservice eye care training to primary health care workers on the cataract referral scheme.