BACKGROUND Visual impairment disproportionately affects people in the low-income countries. A high proportion of visual impairment can be prevented or cured. Yet, care seeking for eye health is restricted for women and older adults. This article uses the intersectionality approach to understand how eye care seeking behaviour changes in men and women with increase in age and visual impairment in a poor and underserved region of India. It brings forth the commonalities and differences between the various groups. METHODS The article is based on qualitative data. Persons aged 50 years and more are categorized into young-old, middle-old and old-old. Men and women with low vision/ high visual impairment have been selected from each of the three age groups. In-depth interviews have been carried out with 24 study participants. Data saturation has been attained. The JHPIEGO Gender Analysis Framework underpins the study. The narrative data has been coded in NVivo 10 software. RESULTS Various symptoms are associated with visual impairment. The young-old with low vision do not report much difficulty due to visual impairment. Study participants with high visual impairment, and in the older age groups do. Difficulty in the discharge of regular chores due to visual impairment is rarely reported. Impaired vision is considered to be inevitable with advancing age. Care seeking is delayed for eye health. Typically, outpatient care from nearby health care facilities has been sought by men and women in every group. Inpatient care is limitedly sought, and mostly restricted to men. Eye care seeking behaviour changes among men with increase in age and visual impairment. Women consistently seek less care than men for both outpatient and inpatient eye care. Study participants of both genders become dependent with increasing age and visual impairment. Traditional patriarchal privileges enjoyed by men (such as mobility and economic independence) decrease with age. The vulnerability of women gets compounded with time. CONCLUSIONS The article presents a granulated understanding of eye care seeking behaviour among older adults in India. Such differentials need to be taken cognizance of in programmes promoting universal access to health care. Existing conceptualizations on access to health care need to be revisited.

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寻求眼保健的行为如何随着年龄增长和视力障碍而改变？印度Sundarbans中老年人的路口分析。

背景技术视觉障碍严重地影响了低收入国家的人们。可以预防或治愈大部分视力障碍。但是，对于妇女和老年人来说，寻求眼睛健康的护理受到限制。本文使用交叉性方法来了解在印度贫困和服务欠缺地区，随着年龄的增长和视力障碍，寻求眼保健的男女如何改变行为。它带来了各个群体之间的共性和差异。方法本文基于定性数据。年龄在50岁以上的人分为年轻人，中年人和老年人。从三个年龄组中分别选择了低视力/高视力障碍的男性和女性。已经与24位研究参与者进行了深入访谈。数据饱和。JHPIEGO性别分析框架是该研究的基础。叙述数据已在NVivo 10软件中编码。结果各种症状与视力障碍有关。视力低下的年轻人不会因视力障碍而感到困难。患有高度视力障碍的参与者和年龄较大的人群都可以。很少有因视觉障碍而导致难以完成日常琐事的报道。随着年龄的增长，视力障碍被认为是不可避免的。眼睛健康延误了就医。通常，每组的男性和女性都希望从附近的医疗机构获得门诊护理。寻求住院治疗的机会有限，而且大多限于男性。随年龄增长和视力障碍，寻求行为改变的男性眼保健。在门诊和住院眼科护理方面，女性一直比男性少寻求护理。随着年龄的增长和视觉障碍，这两种性别的研究参与者都变得依赖。男人享有的传统父权制特权（例如流动性和经济独立性）会随着年龄的增长而降低。妇女的脆弱性会随着时间而加重。结论本文提供了对印度老年人寻求眼保健行为的详尽理解。需要在促进普遍获得卫生保健的方案中认识到这种差异。需要重新考虑有关获得医疗保健的现有概念。男人享有的传统父权制特权（例如流动性和经济独立性）会随着年龄的增长而降低。妇女的脆弱性会随着时间而加重。结论本文提供了对印度老年人寻求眼保健行为的详尽理解。需要在促进普遍获得卫生保健的方案中认识到这种差异。需要重新考虑有关获得医疗保健的现有概念。男人享有的传统父权制特权（例如流动性和经济独立性）会随着年龄的增长而降低。妇女的脆弱性会随着时间而加重。结论本文提出了对印度老年人寻求眼保健行为的详尽理解。在促进普遍获得卫生保健的计划中必须认识到这种差异。需要重新考虑有关获得医疗保健的现有概念。