Knowledge and perceived benefits linked to spectacle use in rural Chinese pupils

Researchers surveyed and screened 1,889 students in grades 4–6 at 21 schools in Q County, Gansu Province. A positive screen was defined as uncorrected visual acuity of 6/12 or worse in either eye; 989 students met this definition. After excluding records with missing information, analyses of corrective behaviors included 981 students. Models adjusted for individual and household characteristics and included school fixed effects.

Among these 981 students, 67.9% had received an eye examination, 50.9% owned spectacles, and 35.6% wore them regularly. Each standard-deviation increase in vision-health knowledge was associated with a 4.8- to 7.2-percentage-point increase in the probability of the three corrective behaviors. Greater knowledge was also associated with a 6.0-point increase in the probability of being very willing to wear spectacles. Benefit expectations were associated with 3.9- to 5.1-point increases in the three behaviors, but were not associated with willingness after adjustment for knowledge. Present bias was not significantly associated with the outcomes.

The authors suggest that efforts to improve spectacle uptake could address misconceptions and make the practical benefits of correction more salient. However, the cross-sectional design identifies associations, not effects of interventions; the findings come from one county and do not establish that information campaigns will change behavior.