Compliance with first time spectacle wear in children under eight years of age

An anonymous prospective survey was carried out of children under 8 years of age prescribed a first pair of spectacles from the Royal Berkshire Hospital between August 1995 and May 1996, focusing on compliance in relation to refractive error, visual status and social factors. One hundred and thirty-three children were surveyed. Mean compliance was high (79.5/100) and spectacles were well liked by most children. Improvement in vision had little or no relationship with compliance. Significant factors were fit and what friends said about the spectacles. Adverse comments were rare, especially in the younger children, but increased with age. In pre-school children spectacles did not appear to be the salient feature in negative social judgements that has been found to occur in adults.