45% of French people suffer from eye strain

Asnav (Association Nationale pour l'Amélioration de la Vue), commissioned Opinion Way to carry out a new research (the last one was in 2005) into the French people's awareness about vision defects, what they do and use for eye health and their habits as regards protection.

The survey took place from March 31 through April 10, 2006 and involved 817 people from the age of 15 upward, a representative sample of the French population. For 57% of the interviewees vision health is linked to sight without defects and the most frequently mentioned problem (65% compared to the 53% in 2005) was eye strain: 45% of the interviewees (37% in 2005) declare to suffer from such problem.

Compared to one year ago, the overall awareness of vision defects seems to have improved, especially by women: 67% knows exactly what myopia is (compared to 56% of the men), 57% knows about strabismus (45% of men) and 30% is able to explain what glaucoma is (20% of the men).

The study also revealed an increase in eye test frequency: 53% of the interviewees said that they had their eyes checked this year (+5% compared to 2005). The increase is appreciable especially among those who do not wear glasses (45%, +12% compared to 2005), but lower among those who do (65% compared to 63% last year).

There has also been a change in awareness levels regarding some beliefs about sun protection: 47% of the interviewees (compared to 40% in 2005) refuse to believe that 'transparent lenses cannot protect the eyes against UV rays' and 66% (55% in 2005) do not accept the concept 'the darker the lenses, the more eye protection from UV rays'.

If aesthetics are still a predominating criterion (53%) for choosing sunglasses, UV protection moves into first place when it comes to children: 47% compared to 44%. A lot of work has still to be done among young people (15-24), the huge majority of whom (82%) puts aesthetics first (UV protection stands at 30% and CE norms at 13%).

(Source: L'Opticien Lunetier)