A Structured Educational Intervention to Enhance School Teachers’ Knowledge of Refractive Errors: A Pre–Post Intervention Study of Effectiveness and Implications

Abstract

Background: The effect of refractive errors is blurred vision, which can occasionally be so severe as to impair eyesight. The three most typical refractive errors are astigmatism, which causes distorted vision due to an irregularly shaped cornea, nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and trouble seeing close objects (hyperopia). Nearsightedness (myopia) and hyperopia (farsightedness) are the two most prominent refractive defects. Objectives1)To assess the mean pre-test knowledge score in control and experimental groups.2. To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured teaching program in experimental groups.3. To compare the post- test knowledge score in controland experimental groups. 4. To find out the association between pre-test knowledge scores with their selected socio-demographic variables in control and experimental groups.Method:A study was conducted in selected schools to assess the effectiveness of a structured teaching program on refractive error among school teachers.60 samples were selected by using a non- probability purposive sampling technique.The sociodemographic was collected by using a questionnaire method on Age, Gender, Educational qualification, Year of experience, and knowledge regarding refractive errors. Knowledgeregarding refractive errors was assessed by using structured knowledge questionnaires.A pre-test of thecontrol group and an experimental group was conducted on the same day. A structured teaching program was given to only the experimental group. A post-test of both groups was conducted on the seventh dayto assess improvement in the knowledge regarding Refractive errors.Collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.Result: In the experimental group mean pre-test score was 12.37 with a standard deviation of ±2.49, whereas the mean post-test score was 22.8 with a standard deviation of ±3.86. The test statistical value of the paired ttest was tcal 4.034 was greater than the tabulated value ttab2.05and the unpaired t-test reveals that t cal 7.14 showing that there was a significant difference in knowledge scores of the experimental group. This concludes that the STP was an effective intervention strategy for improving the knowledge regarding Refractive errors.