Browsing by Author "Prema K Chande"

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    An Evaluation of Practitioner’s Understanding of the Relationship Between Eye and Dental Health
    (Chitkara University Publications, 2021-04-14) Mumtaz Qazi; Usmani Aazim; Prema K Chande
    Background: According to several studies, eyesight may be impacted by dental health, including the condition of your teeth and gums. Hence awareness of correlating factors of ocular and dental disease is necessary among eyecare and dental care providers, so they can spread the awareness to patients. Methodology: A self-administered questionnaire was developed after focus group discussion. Dentists and ophthalmologists in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai received the Survey Monkey questionnaire, which was distributed through emails and in-person meetings. Results: 245 practitioners responded to the survey, including 125 dentists and 120 ophthalmologists. According to the survey, 62.18% of ophthalmologists and 34.40% of dentists are aware of the link between poor dental health and the eyes. Years of experience and knowledge of dentists were not correlating (p > 0.05), whereas years of experience and knowledge of ophthalmologists were correlating (p<0.05) regarding the relationship between poor oral health and eye. Conclusion: Ophthalmologists have encountered more instances of ocular issues caused by poor dental health than dentists. Thus, the present brief survey concludes that dental care provider needs more awareness about eye disease caused by dental issues. Both respective fields can provide awareness to patients for better quality of life.
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    Barriers to availing refractive error services among an urban slum population in Mumbai, India
    (Chitkara University Publications, 2016-04-04) Prema K Chande; Urmi Vora
    Background: A refractive error project for management of refractive errors in adults was undertaken in the urban slums of Mumbai, India. The project looked at the burden of refractive errors in the predominantly lower socio economic status groups as well as what common barriers prevent access to refractive services amongst this population. This presentation highlights the barriers that were elicited for availing and accessing refractive error services among the urban slum population in Mumbai, India. AIM: The study aimed to identify the common barriers to availing & accessing refractive error services among an urban slum population in Mumbai, India. Methods : A situation analysis of the community, with respect to availability of services was done as a part of the service delivery planning. The analysis revealed that services were available but the community was not accessing the same. Based on the situation analysis report a questionnaire with all perceived barriers was developed and the same was validated. Service delivery was done by establishing vision centers within the community. Trained health workers performed a door to door vision screening, identified and referred the needy population to the vision centre. Here the questionnaire was run by trained social workers on the people visiting the centers for eye examinations, who were referred by the social workers. Results : Data analysis was carried out to know the reasons for not availing the services within the community. Of the 4070 subjects who visited the vision centre, 4039 case records were complete and analyzed. The demographic associations of the use of spectacles and reasons for not availing services were assessed with age, gender, education, socioeconomic status. On further analyses it was revealed, that, 3373 (83.5%) were aware of their poor vision, of these 2000 people did not visit an eye doctor. When the questions were analyzed as economic reasons and lack of awareness, lack of awareness superseded economic reasons, as lack of awareness was 54.5% Vs economic was 53.70%. Conclusion: When refractive error service delivery was planned for this population, besides providing free spectacles, emphasis on generating awareness for need for refractive errors was also considered.