Knowledge and attitude of physical education students, teachers, coaches, and players towards visual correction in sports

Abstract

Background: Sports vision is a specialty of optometry that enhances athletic performance by assessing and improving visual skills. Understanding the visual requirements of various sports is critical to obtaining peak performance. The invention of contact lenses had a tremendous impact on sports vision since it provided players with a convenient and effective visual correction option. However, sports professionals' knowledge and attitudes toward vision corrective technologies remain limited.

Objective: The study assessed the knowledge and attitudes of physical education students, teachers, coaches, and athletes towards visual correction in sports.

Methods: A prospective, questionnaire-based study was carried out on 250 sports personnel who met the inclusion criteria. Each participant was questioned individually with a structured questionnaire, and their replies were recorded for analysis. 

Results: Among the 250 participants, 185 (74%), including students/players and teachers/coaches, had limited expertise (0-15%) of visual correction. Teachers/coaches (41.27%), ophthalmologists (23.82%), and optometrists (19.14%) were the top three recommenders of vision correction. There was a strong correlation (p < 0.001) between the recommender and the technique of visual correction. Contact lenses were recommended less frequently than spectacles.                                                                                      

Conclusion: Sports professionals have a limited understanding of refractive defects and ways of vision correction. Teachers/coaches and students/players demonstrated equal degrees of awareness. Spectacles remained the most popular means of correction, while contact lenses were less usually advised for sporting activities.