AIM: To explore adult perceptions of vision screening for children in Chennai, India and the role that poverty may play in this.

METHODS:This was a four-week cross-sectional study, conducted on randomly selected individuals who attended outreach camps in low socio-economic areas in and around Chennai, India in December 2012. Individuals were approached after they had received their free vision screenings and asked to complete a short face to face semi-structured interview. Every third individual was approached and was initially asked if any children lived in their place of residence. If they responded yes, they were then asked to take part in the study.

RESULTS: A total of 120 individuals participated in the study. Of these, 38%(95%CI: 30, 47)of the participants indicated that at least one child in their residence had previously had an eye examination(group 1)and 62%(95%CI: 53, 70)of the participants responded that no child in their residence had ever had an eye examination(group 2). The median standardized poverty score, using the Simple Poverty Scorecard for India, was 61(range 19-80)and 60(range 21-93)in groups 1 and 2 respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the poverty scores in the two groups.

CONCLUSION:We found that less than half of the participants recalled that their children had previously had an eye examination. There was no statistically significant difference in the poverty scores between participants who identified the presence of a previous eye exam and those who did not. Compared to those participants whose children had never had an eye examination, those participants whose children had, were more likely to have a favourable attitude towards a check-up eye examination for their children. This study suggests that adult perceptions of the importance of eye examinations for children do not appear to be influenced by poverty levels. Improving adult perceptions of childhood eye examinations will likely require interventions other than poverty alleviation.