ABSTRACT

Conclusions:

Integration of preventive and therapeutic ocular health services into the PHC bears importance in terms of rendering those services accessible for everyone and relieving the burden of secondary level health care institutions. This may be achieved by reviewing and adapting the undergraduate curriculum on ophtalmology for requirements of the PHC, improvement of skills and knowledge through postgraduate training programs, and maintaining useful information sources on ocular diseases.

Results:

The rates for presence of a penlight, topical antibiotic, ophtalmoscope, and Snellen scale in the workplaces of the physicians were 57.6%, 47.0%, 31.8%, and 10.6%, respectively. The knowledge and practice associated with diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of ocular diseases in PHC centers were found to be significantly low. While pediatric age group had a significant proportion among patients presenting ocular complaints, the screening tests aiming for early diagnosis of ocular diseases of asemptomatic patients were found to be used rare. The physicians were determined to attend no training on this field following their graduation; and general medical books (83.3%) were found to be the most common referral sources in cases of need, specific books for ophthalmology (10.6%) and drug promotion materials (18.2%) were found to be the following most common sources of information.

Materials and Methods:

Sixty-six physicians working in 41 PHC centers in province centre and 10 other peripheral districts of Van, were enrolled in the study. Data were obtained by a survey including 23 questions which were filled by the physicians themselves. The frequency distribution of the data were analyzed, bivariate analyses were performed, and statistical significance was evaluated with chi-square test.

Purpose:

We aimed to determine physicians’ approaches and practices on ocular diseases in primary health care (PHC) centers in Van.