Title: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Ocular Topical Steroid among Patients Visiting Tertiary Care Hospital at Rampurhat, West Bengal
Author: Dr Raktima Baksi (Mandal)
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v8i1.43
Abstract
Background: It has been observed that majority of rural patients attending eye outpatient department (OPD) in a tertiary care hospital at Rampurhat, West Bengal, are in the habit of misusing steroid medications through self-medication, treatment by quacks, pharmacists, and general practitioners for various eye conditions which can lead to various complications in eye.
Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional study in ophthalmology OPD at tertiary care hospital in Rampurhat, West Bengal. A total of 150 patients of both sexes, aged between 15 and 70 years who visited hospital for the first time in eye OPD from May 2018 to April 2019 were interviewed. All patients underwent a short semi-structured questionnaire, especially prepared by the author. The results were statistically analyzed to come to a conclusion.
Results: A total of 112 patients reported using eye drops. Only 36 of them were using steroid eye drops of their own with or without antibiotics or other substances. By calculating binomial probability and normal approximation with this sample, it can be inferred that a significant number of patients do use self-prescribed steroid eye drops (P < 0.02).
Conclusion: There is a menacing state of affairs in rural/semi-urban areas of Eastern India regarding misuse of eye drops, at least in regions of our study, which encourage bigger multicentric studies, and also, immediate measures should be taken to improve awareness and literacy on this issue.
Keywords: Misuse of eye drop, Ocular medicine, Topical steroids
