ABSTRACT

Background information: Myopia, a frequent refractive defect, affects many people, especially young individuals, which makes close object appear clearly and far object to appear blurry Purpose: The study evaluated the clinical optometry students' understanding of several myopia management techniques. Method: A questionnaire-based method was used to gather information from 116 participants, who were typical clinical class students. According to the participants' demographic profile, all of them were Nigerian and the majority  of them were between the ages of 20 and 25 (n = 79; 71.8%). The proportion of participants was generally uniform across academic years, however there were  more in the 600 (n = 18; 16.4%) and 500 (n = 79; 71.8%) levels than in the 400 (n = 13; 11.8%).

Data was collected and analyzed using the statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 23.0 for windows (SPSS, Chicago IL, USA ). Additional statistical analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationships between participant knowledge levels and demographic factors. Using chi-square testing, the researchers investigated potential correlations between age, educational attainment, and understanding of the causes and risk factors.Result; However, there were no significant associations between awareness of the causes and risk factors of myopia and age or educational achievement (p > 0.05). Ordinal regression analysis, on the other hand, was used to evaluate the effect of age and academic development on the level of confidence in myopia control. Regression analysis revealed a substantial correlation (p < 0.05) between age and study level and confidence levels.Individuals with higher levels of education and age reported greater confidence in managing myopia. Age and educational achievement play a key role in influencing students' confidence levels. Contribution to optometry:Experience and academic progress lead to improved self-assurance while dealing with myopia-related challenges. This study provides insight into clinical optometry students' thoughts on myopia management. Understanding the study's strengths and areas for progress will help future optometrists control myopia and improve eye health in their communities. Conclusion: this study clarified the understanding, knowledge and confidence of clinical optometry students, with relation to myopia and its treatment. An extensive examination of demographic characteristics, knowledge of myopia management techniques, identification of risk factors and causes, and confidence levels has provided important new information on the knowledge of future optometrists regarding the treatment of myopia-related problems.

Keywords: Myopia, Knowledge, spectacules, contact lens, surgery.