Survey shedding light on Canadians’ knowledge of eye health

Getting more Canadians to access eye care A new survey shows a third of Canadians who haven’t had their eyes check in more than two years don’t go because they think nothing is wrong. Michelle Gerwing reports.

A new survey shows: of the Canadians who haven’t had their eyes checked in more then two years, a third didn’t go because they believed nothing was wrong.

Now, there is a push to get more Canadians to access vision care.

The survey is from the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and the Canadian Association of Optometrists, and it shows there’s a lack of understanding about eye health in the country.

“The fact the Canadians are unaware that eye disease can progress silently is a concern because in the absence of regular eye examinations, disease is missed,” said Dr. Phil Hooper, the president of the Canadian Ophthalmology Association.

The survey found most Canadians are familiar with cataracts, but it’s not well known they are the leading cause of blindness.

Fewer people are familiar with glaucoma, especially younger adults and even fewer know about other diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and contact lens-associated dry eye disease.

“20/20 vision doesn’t mean you have healthy eyes. You can have 20/20 vision, but go blind from glaucoma tomorrow if you didn’t realize your were losing vision on the outside,” said optometrist Dr. Irene Mestito-Dao.

She says three-quarters of vision impairments are preventable, “…if detected early and that is a big piece of information that people should know.”

The findings from the study support the push from the Canadian Association of Optometrists for a national vision health strategy to identify what’s being missed.

“Roadblocks, if you will, in the seamless pathway to care for eyes and to develop way to get around these,” said Hooper.

Oct. 13 is considered World Sight Day.