Posters

Sunglasses on children: how much do parents really know?

Poster Details

First Author: E.Kanonidou GREECE

Co Author(s):    A. Papagianni   T. Lalias                 

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Children's eyes are more sensitive to sunlight than adult one's as their lens doesn't have the natural physical protection that is gradually developed until the age of 12. Ultraviolet A and B radiation are dangerous for children's eyes and so they have to be protected all around the year. Our purpose is to investigate parents knowledge regarding the use of sunglasses from children.

Setting:

Department of Ophthalmology, ''Hippokrateion'' General Hospital of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Methods:

68 parents were involved (57 women) with mean age 42,6 years. 46 of them had higher education and the mean age of their children was 10,1 years. The data were collected by filling a questionaire in the form of intreview.

Results:

38 of the participants believe that children's eyes are more in danger from UV radiation.33 think that children have to use sunglasses before the age of 3.39 answered that children need sunglasses during a cloudy day.40 answered yes to the question whether children should wear glasses throughout the year.43 said that they knew the safety standards when choosing sunglasses,49 what is UV radiation and what damage causes to the eye,49 how a child's vision can be affected from exposure to sunlight without protection,60 which are the dangers from buying glasses from non certified stores,35 how often should sunglasses be replaced.

Conclusions:

Number one rule for the protection of children's eyes from sun light is to wear glasses. Therefore it is essential that even infants from the age of 6 months have to wear sunglasses when they are outdoors. Children's sunglasses though should have certain standards that can be found only at certified optical stores.

Financial Disclosure:

NONE