Optometrists' attitudes toward visually impaired patients in the province of Quebec

In the province of Quebec, 11 governmentally funded rehabilitation centers are responsible for providing a full range of services for visually impaired and blind individuals. The purpose of this study was to document optometrists' attitudes towards low-vision patients and to verify their knowledge concerning specialized low-vision services. A survey comprised of 14 questions was mailed to 498 randomly selected optometrists. The survey was distributed throughout the province. The response rate was 40%. Of the surveyed optometrists, 39% reported performing low-vision exams. More than 90% correctly identified low-vision organizations in their region. Only 5% mentioned “never” or “rarely” referring patients to low-vision centers. Sixty percent of optometrists reported that their patients “sometimes” or “often” refused to go to the specialized low-vision center. Only a modest proportion of optometrists performs comprehensive low-vision exams. On the other hand, they are generally aware of rehabilitation services available in their region and regularly refer patients to the specialized low-vision center. Nevertheless, there remains a low participation rate (26%) of eligible elderly patients in the visual rehabilitation centers. Future investigations should address the reasons why patients are hesitant to attend such specialized centers.