Less follow-up, fewer control visits, the French do not take care of their eyes and pay less attention to prevention. Yet they claim that sight is a public health problem.
Prevention: an act of comfort?
While 93% of French people think that treating their eyesis a real public health issue, 26% have checked their eyesight two years ago and a third of them (32%) have a check-up every 3 years or less frequently. And more than a third of French people (33%) change pairs of glasses every 4 years or more.
“In terms of visual health, as in other areas related to care, the French no longer consider prevention as a necessity but a comfort. They adopt less virtuous behavior. This attitude can be explained by the generally gloomy context ”explains Bertrand Roy, president of AsnaV.
The majority of French people (82%) believe that the measures envisaged by the Government to reduce the reimbursement of optical equipment by supplementary insurance is a bad thing. And 32% of French people surveyed believe that to improve visual health, better reimbursement of care and equipment is necessary.
The French concerned about their eyes
Yet the French are concerned about their eyes and feel the effects of time spent in front of the screens :
A third of French people and 40% of young people aged 16-24 say they experience visual disturbances (eye fatigue, tingling, migraine, blur, etc.) because of the time spent in front of a screen.
This may explain why 51% of French people suffer from near vision problems. They were only 44% in 2013.
“However, visual health remains a major concern for them, despite the negative signals sent by the public authorities. The French also reject the recent measures envisaged by the government, such as the reduction in reimbursement for optical equipment by complementary insurance which they already consider insufficient ”concludes Bertrand Roy, President of AsnaV.