The Millenial's Opinion Of Online Glasses Prescription

Background: The topic of online refractions and eyewear purchasing is quickly becoming a topic of concern within the field of optometry. Our goal through this project is to assess the opinions of millennials aged 18-34 regarding the safety, efficacy, and convenience of the concept of online eyecare. Methods: The study was conducted through an online survey through Survey Monkey shared through the social media network of Facebook. The age range is individuals aged eighteen through thirty-four-years-old. The sample size is 189 opinions.
Results: Of the 189 respondents, 71.8% were female. Over 86% of participants reported that they had had a full eye exam, but only 53.2% said that a full exam entailed both a refraction and dilation. About 90% of opinions agreed that they need to go to an optometrist or ophthalmologist for a full exam, but only 64.4% agreed that they needed to be dilated to fully assess ocular health. About 98% of respondents agreed that systemic health and medications can affect ocular health, 90% felt changes related to diabetes and 97% felt changes related to hypertension could cause changes to the eye. About 94% of millenials agreed that it was important for contact lenses to be evaluated for fit by an eye care professional. Consistently about 80-90% of people felt online eye exams would not assess them for eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, binocular vision dysfunction, or macular degeneration. About 95% of participants felt an eyeglass prescription obtained online would be less accurate that one from an eye care professional. Conclusions: It is valuable to eye care professionals to know the opinions of their patients, especially in this technology-savy age group. This survey provides valuable information about which topics may require some increased public education.