Eye care utilization among older subjects with visual impairment in Northwest Ethiopia

Purpose: To find out the level of eye care service utilization and its determinants among the elderly visually impaired populations while visiting ophthalmic outreach locations in North Western Ethiopia, 2021. Methods: An ophthalmic outreach-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 852 visually impaired older people. Participants were selected by using a systematic random sampling method from January to July 2021. Data were collected by using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and an ocular examination. The collected data were entered into the Epi Info 7, and analyzed using SPSS 20. A binary logistic regression was fitted. Results: A total of 821 participants, with a response rate of 96.5%, were included in the study. The utilization of eye care services within the past two years prior to the study was 21.1% (95 % CI: 18.2­23.9). Having systemic disease (AOR = 3.2, 95% CI: 1.5­7.0), being a spectacle wearer (AOR = 4.5, 95% CI: 2.0­9.4), having visual impairment at distance (AOR = 2.9; 95% CI: 1.5­5.6), being blind (AOR = 2.9; 95% CI: 1.5­5.6), duration of visual impairment ≤1 year (AOR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.3­4.9) were all significantly associated. Conclusion: In this study, utilization of eye care services was low. Being visually impaired at distance, being blind, recent onset of visual impairment, being a spectacle wearer, and having systemic disease were all related to the use of eye care services. The commonest barriers to utilization of eye care services were financial scarcity and long distances between eye care facilities.