Assessing knowledge and practice about eye injuries first aid, with awareness about the importance of early management among general population in Asser Region, 2020

BACKGROUND: Eye injury is a leading cause of monocular blindness and is second only to cataract as the commonest cause of visual impairment. Injury is the commonest reason for eye-related emergency department visits. AIM: To assess population awareness regarding eye injuries first aids in Aseer region, Saudi Arabia. METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross-sectional approach was used targeting all accessible population in Aseer region, Southern of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from participants using electronic pre-structured questionnaire. The tool will cover participants' socio-demographic data, participants' history of eye injury, awareness and practice regarding different types of eye injuries first aids. RESULTS: The survey included 1213 participants who completed the questionnaire. Participants' ages ranged from 18 to 60 years old with mean age of 22.3 ± 11.9 years old. About 69% of the participants reported for having constant eye pain, 68.3% reported in case of Foreign Body (FB) in the eye, 66.9% reported for torn eye lid. Regarding signs of scratch eye, 64.2% reported for feel FB inside, 58% reported for eye pain and 55.2% reported for blurred vision. Exact of 25.7% of participants reported that they should blink several times in case of getting eye scratch, whereas 77.8% reported that they should rub the eye to try to remove any foreign object, 36.3% preferred to use the soothing eye drop. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the study revealed that public awareness regarding eye injury first aid in Aseer region was poor especially for chemical injuries. Physician role should be augmented and health education campaigns are advised.