Abstract

Purpose: To describe the knowledge, attitude and practices of home gardeners regarding eye protection during gardening
Methods: Cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted among 50 female urban homemakers who maintain domestic gardens. Semi-structured questions were asked.
Results: All 50 respondents agreed that eye protection was necessary during gardening (100%). Advantages of eyewear were protection from dust (42%), trauma by leaves (36%), gardening tools (30%) and sunlight (22%). More respondents preferred no eyewear (52%) compared to regular sun shades or prescription glasses (40%). Four respondents had already encountered some form of ocular trauma during gardening. Discomfort (61.5%), poor access, cumbersome maintenance (53.9%) and difficulty in looking through the equipment (23.1%) were enlisted as reasons for no protective wear.
Conclusion: About half of the respondents did not wear protective eyewear due to non-ergonomic designs of the equipment they had access to.

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