Abstract
Purpose :
To determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of eyecare practitioners and people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in Australia.
Methods :
KAP questionnaires were designed in consultation with disease management experts and service providers, based on a review of the literature and using the qualitative data generated by study of stakeholders’ perspectives of AMD. The KAP questionnaires for people with AMD and eyecare practitioners contained 26 and 31 items respectively and were piloted on representative samples of 10 participants. Invitations were mailed to random samples of 400 people with AMD from the Macular Diseases Foundation Australian client database, to all ophthalmologists registered for practice in Australia, and to a random sample of 1,000 optometrists listed on the Optometry Board of Australia register. Descriptive statistics, t-tests and the general linear model were used to describe findings, examine differences, and investigate factors (age, gender, profession, state) that can predict KAP scores.
Results :
Eighty persons with AMD (response rate 20%) and 268 eyecare practitioners (response rate 13%) completed the survey. KAP domain and overall scores for each group are shown in the Table. Knowledge and attitude to AMD were lower in people with AMD than eyecare practitioners but practices were good overall. People with AMD had poorer knowledge of the nature and risk factors of AMD than eyecare practitioners (p<0.05). Optometrists are more confident in their ability to diagnose and classify AMD than they are in their ability to manage the condition. In contrast, ophthalmologists were confident in their ability to manage AMD. Some of the practices of optometrists and ophthalmologists regarding AMD could be improved.
Conclusions :
A KAP questionnaire designed to measure knowledge, attitude, and practice of stakeholders of AMD in Australia performed well and highlighted some misconceptions and misunderstandings. Establishment of these baseline KAP scores provides an opportunity to appropriately target interventions (e.g. health education) and measure their effectiveness in these populations.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.