The Covid-19 pandemic has meant a turnaround in everything related to it. In addition to the disease itself, the coronavirus crisis has left numerous side effects in other areas, such as mental health or the delay in the diagnosis of many diseases.
but according to the latest data it seems that it has also caused an increase in the visual problems that the Spanish population suffered until now. According to data from the ‘White Paper on Visual Health 2022’, visual problems have increased by 9% after the pandemic.
Specifically, this study shows that if before the coronavirus, 67% of the Spanish population had some vision problem, today this percentage rises to 76%.
Main vision problems detected during confinement
Already in confinement, many people began to detect vision problems, specifically the study of optometrists opticians indicates that this happened to 27%.
Among the main difficulties that citizens detected were:
– Visual fatigue (15%)
– Eyestrain (15%).
– Dry eyes (11%).
– Red eyes (17%).
– Foreign body sensation in the eye (20%).
– Tearing (14%).
In addition, among the conditions that have suffered the greatest increase in recent years, the following stand out in particular:
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He astigmatismwith an increase of 11% (from 24% to 35%)
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The myopiawith a growth of 9% (which has made it go from 28% to 37%).
A large part of this increase in vision problems may be due to confinement, infections… But also the fear of going to a health center of any type, which caused many people not to want to go for their annual check-up. .
According to the study of opticians-optometrists, 17% of those surveyed say that the pandemic has affected them in the frequency with which they went for their annual check-up.
An annual eye exam
For this reason, the National College of Opticians-Optometrists (CNOO) calls for the use of any of the 10,000 existing optical health establishments available in Spain with the aim of maintaining vision in optimal conditions.
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And it is that three out of ten Spaniards do not have their vision checked periodically, with young people being the ones who less frequently go for eye check-ups with a professional optician-optometrist.
“This carries the risk of suffering a visual deficiency that is not being compensated, due to ignorance, or that patent visual problems end up getting worse,” warns the dean of the CNOO, Eduardo Moran Abbotwho insists that half of the cases of visual loss “can be prevented with early detection and correct treatment.”
The importance of a visual review on time
Through a visual examination, the optician-optometrist is not only able to determine if a person suffers from a refractive defect, such as myopia, farsightedness or astigmatism, but can perceive a diagnostic suspicion of possible anomalies that affect health ocular.
Specialists refer to cataracts, diabetic retinopathy or visual deficiencies, of which one is not aware, but which can cause irreversible loss of vision. Being detected in time allows the optician to refer the patient to an ophthalmologist on time.
Compared to other countries with scarce resources and means to prevent visual problems, the CNOO highlights the ease with which millions of Spaniards have when visiting the professional optician-optometrist, so it is recommended to do so at least once. Once a year.