It is a common perception that visual impairment, like any other form of disability, is a major cause of despair among the affected persons. A joint study by the PGI and Panjab University (PU), however, has defied this perception — finding that most visually impaired youths, at least in Chandigarh, are satisfied with their overall health and are able to relish parties and movies with the support of families and friends.

The study, conducted by the School of Public Health at the PGI and the Centre for Public Health, PU, on 110 visually impaired youth in Chandigarh, revealed that 80 per cent of the respondents considered their overall health good.

The average score for overall health was 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. A majority did not worry about their eyesight. They said they had accepted this and had stopped thinking about it.

“Also, around 65 per cent of the respondents’ visit restaurants, go for parties, watch movies with friends and family with less or no difficulty, indicating that the respondents wanted to enjoy their life socially without any discrimination,” the study stated.
The study showed that they had a positive attitude towards their health despite the constraints. However, the main limitation of being visually impaired was the inability to read. A majority of the participants reported huge difficulty related to reading. Most of the respondents were not able to read a newspaper.

One of them said, “Sirf motte badhe akshar hi padhe jaate hain (only big bold letters can be read).”

The study, “Quality of life of visually impaired youths in Chandigarh”, was carried out by Dr VL Sharma and Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma from the Centre for Public Health, PU, and Dr Amarjeet Singh (Professor) and Karamjot Walia from the School of Public Health, PGI. It was carried out from January 2015 to May 2015.

The findings

• Most of the respondents were able to carry out daily tasks such as cooking, arranging books on shelf and washing clothes with little or no difficulty.
• A majority (67 per cent) of them go out with little or no help. They just need help while crossing a road or identifying a shop.
• Only 30 per cent of the respondents were able to drive a scooter or ride a bicycle with moderate difficulty.
• Around 63 per cent of them preferred a dispensary or a government hospital due to proximity and financial constraints.
• Most of them said the government should emphasise more on training them for daily tasks.