Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention to Assess Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Age-related Macular Degeneration among Nursing Students

INTRODUCTION: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss in older adults. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention in improving nursing students' knowledge and attitudes toward AMD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was conducted with 144 nursing students from M. M. Institute of Nursing, Haryana. A structured knowledge questionnaire and attitude scale were used to assess the students before and after the intervention. The educational intervention, delivered via PowerPoint presentation, covered AMD's definition, prevalence, risk factors, clinical features, management, and the nursing role in AMD care. RESULTS: The results indicated that in the pretest, 44.4% of the students demonstrated good knowledge, which increased to 79.2% in the posttest. Positive attitude improved from 77.8% to 85.4%, while neutral attitude decreased from 22.2% to 14.6%. In terms of knowledge, the mean score improved from 21.78 ± 6.29 in the pretest to 26.34 ± 5.07 in the posttest, showing a statistically significant improvement (P = 0.001). For attitude, the mean score increased from 54.09 ± 6.00 in the pretest to 55.73 ± 5.98 in the posttest, with a statistically significant improvement (P = 0.021). Therefore, the educational intervention significantly enhanced nursing students' knowledge and attitudes toward AMD. CONCLUSION: The educational intervention significantly improved nursing students' knowledge and attitudes toward AMD. These findings emphasize the need to integrate eye health education into nursing curricula to enhance the effective management of AMD so that nursing students can manage patients with AMD in the community as well as in hospitals.