ABSTRACT

Discussion:

Visual impairment, which affects hundreds of thousands of people in our co-untry, is an important concern for the patients, their families, the society and the professions who serve them. Although the study group is small, the study is important, because it searches the perceptions about the attitudes of the ophthalmologists, by the children with visual impairment and their families. Having information about the expectations of the children with visual impairment and their families; will help to improve the health and rehabilitation care and also will contribute them to live a more satisfactory and productive life.

Findings:

Regarding the subjects who answered the questionnaire, the ratio of the impres-sion of perceiving the examinations adequate is 55% in children and 42% in families. The ans-wers about the general satisfaction of the children from the examinations are 45% good satisfac-tion, 50% moderate satisfaction and 5% low satisfaction. Although the general impression about the examinations and the attitudes are reported to be mostly satisfactory, there found to be a dis-satisfaction of 56 percent in the area of giving enough information about the disease. Patients reported that, they don't want to hear negative and pity expressions from eye doctors. The majo-rity also reported that, they want to attend to mainstream schools instead of schools for visually impaired.

Method:

A questionnaire was applied to 22 students with low vision and their families, who admitted for a low vision examination. In the questionnaire, the subjects were asked about the expectations from the ophthalmologists and the perception of former eye examinations; under general, examination-attitude and information subheadings.

Aim:

To acquire information about the expectations of visually impaired children and their families from ophthalmologists.