Knowledge and Attitude of Senior Secondary School Students to Strabismus in an Urban Town in South Western Nigeria

Open Access

Abstract

This cross-sectional descriptive survey was carried out to determine the knowledge of strabismus and attitudes of Secondary school students in Sagamu Local Government area (LGA) about strabismus. A multistage sampling technique was used to select three secondary schools in Sagamu LGA for the research. A validated semi-structured self-administered questionnaire for the purpose of the research was used to collect data. Approval was obtained from the Zonal Education Office of the State Ministry of Education, Science &Technology and the Principals of the selected schools. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistical package version 20. Knowledge score and attitude scores were calculated. A total of 1082 students were studied. There were 486(45.2%) males and 593 females. Their age ranges from 10years to 21years with a mean of 15.3+1.48years. Five hundred and eleven (46.7%) respondents were able to define strabismus correctly as eye turn. About forty percent think strabismus can be outgrown. Fifty percent of respondents would not marry someone with strabismus. Knowledge score was less than 50% in 97.7% of respondents. We concluded that knowledge and awareness of strabismus is low among the senior secondary school students. Intensified health education and awareness campaign to increase knowledge by Ophthalmologists should be embarked upon. This will also increase uptake of treatment