Impact of second phase lockdown over Indian optometrists: a questionnaire based study

Background: Optometrist all over India have faced various problems during this period of COVID-19. This study is to find out the challenges faced by Indian optometrists during the Second phase of COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: A self-administrated, cross-sectional survey in English was distributed using Google forms through various professional bodies across optometrists in India. The questionnaire was circulated among optometrists practicing in India through social media, namely WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook. The survey aims to find out the challenges faced by Indian optometrists during the COVID-19 lockdown. Results: In this study, a total of 107 optometrists from all over India were enrolled, among which 60 (56%) were males and 47 (44.0%) were females. Informed consent was taken online by all the participants who were included in the study. 102 optometrists (95.3%) approved to participate in the study whereas 5 optometrists (4.8%) did not approve to participate in the study. 70% of optometrists faced problems in approaching the patient considering social distancing. 56% of optometrists had difficulty in dispensing spectacles, whereas 44% of optometrists did not face any difficulty. 81% of optometrists responded to have difficulty in dispensing contact lens. Conclusions: There are no doubt, due to COVID-19 optometrists have faced several challenges across the globe. The major challenge for optometrists was to dispense spectacle and contact lenses with maintaining their safety by maintaining social distancing with the patients. Maintaining social distancing is one of the best ways of reducing the further spread of the disease across the globe.