Knowledge of Childhood Blindness and Associated Factors Among Parents or Guardians in Maksegnit Town, Northwest Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION: Childhood blindness is defined as a group of eye diseases occurring in childhood or early adolescence. Good parental knowledge of childhood blindness is important for early detection and management of the lifelong burden. PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess knowledge of childhood blindness and associated factors among parents or guardians. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Systematic random sampling was used to select the study participants. Data were collected by interview using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS version 20. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the determinant factors, and p-values less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 524 participants were enrolled in the study, with a 98.49% response rate. The proportion of good knowledge of childhood blindness was 39.1% (95% CI: 34.9–43.3%). Being male (AOR=2.32, 95% CI: 1.4–3.87), higher educational status (AOR=6.47, 95% CI: 2.4–17.3), knowing where the child eye care center is (AOR=2.68, 95% CI: 1.5–4.7) and participation in eye care campaigns (AOR=1.95, 95% CI: 1.26–3.0) had statistically significant associations with knowledge of childhood blindness. CONCLUSION: Less than half of the study participants had good knowledge about childhood blindness. Being male, having higher educational status, knowing about the child eye care center and participation in eye care campaigns were positively associated with knowledge of childhood blindness.