Few employees realize how lifestyle choices can impact their eye health, according to the Employee Perceptions of Vision Benefits survey by Transitions Optical Inc.
In fact, only 16 percent of respondents say they receiver education from their employers about eye health, which is a missed opportunity as 85 percent of respondents say they would take steps to quit smoking if they knew it affected their eye health.
"Employers are always looking for ways to motivate employees to improve their overall health, and it's ironic to consider that the answer may have been right in front of their eyes all along," says Smith Wyckoff, key account manager, managed care and online retail of Transitions Optical. "By educating their work force about the eye health impact of many of the things that we do every day – from not getting enough sleep, to not eating right, to smoking – employers can help protect their employees' vision and maybe even persuade them to change unhealthy habits, helping employers and their employees reap the benefits of lower health care costs and increased productivity.
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Transitions Optical believes eye health education could also encourage more employees to use this benefit. Although nearly eight in 10 respondents report having visions benefits, 36 percent of respondents failed to receive eye exams.
The survey also finds that 83 percent of employees are aware that aging can impact eye health, but that figure is lower for other factors, including UV exposure at 70 percent, poor nutrition at 66 percent, lack of sleep at 64 percent, medication use at 60 percent, smoking at 55 percent and pregnancy at 19 percent.
Meanwhile, 70 percent of employees say spending too much time at the computer can affect eye health, and 48 percent of respondents say watching TV could do the same. According to Transitions Optical, these tasks can lead to headaches, eyestrain and fatigue, but they are not believed to cause permanent, long-term eye damage.
When it comes to overall health issues, three in four respondents understand diabetes could result in eye health problems while and two in three respondents know high blood pressure can, as well. Despite this, only 39 percent of respondents believe high cholesterol can impact eye health, and 35 percent of respondents say being over or underweight could affect eye health. Only 22 percent of respondents are aware that mental health also is connected with eye health.
The effects of smoking are especially unknown among respondents, the survey finds. Most respondents know smoking can cause cancer, heart disease, stroke and death, but fewer than half of respondents understand smoking can cause eye irritation, and three in four respondents did not know smoking could result glaucoma, macular degeneration, vision loss and cataract development.
Most respondents are aware that diabetes and hypertension could lead to eye health issues, but only one-third of respondents realize they can both be diagnosed through an eye exam. Few respondents also know other diseases can be detected through an eye exam, including high cholesterol at 11 percent, Alzheimer's disease at 6 percent and other mental disorders at 3 percent.
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