Independent variables	Category	Number(N)	Percent (%)
Age	(Mean±SD)	30.62±3.89
	(Minimum,Maximum)	(23,45)
	≤30 Years	97	64.7
	>30 Years	53	35.3
Sex	Female	35	23.3
Sex	Male	115	76.7
Qualifications	Seniors1	54	36.0
	Ophthalmology residents	49	32.7
	Others 2	47	31.3
Experience	≤5 Years	112	74.7
Experience	>5 Years	38	25.3
Organization where practicing	Governmental	132	88.0
Organization where practicing	Non-governmental	18	12.0
Over all knowledge status about low vision(Score of ≥3 out of 5 score	Knowledgeable	104	69.3
	Not knowledgeable	46	30.7
Over all awareness Status low vision(score of ≥5 out of 8)	Aware	134	89.3
	Not aware	16	10.7
Place of training	Ethiopia	140	93.3
Place of training	Foreign	10	6.7
Primary area of activity	Patient’s eye examination (Yes)	142	94.7
	Training eye care personnel(Yes)	72	48.0
	Community eye health/prevention of blindness(Yes)	52	34.7
	Low vision rehabilitation services((Yes)	19	12.7
	Others	5	3.3

1= Ophthalmologists 49 and 5 Ophthalmology sub-specialists 2 = Others (20 BSc in Optometry, 7 MSc in Optometry, 6 cataract surgeons, 3 opticians, 11 Ophthalmic-Nurses)
Table 1: Socio-demographic data of respondents

Independent variable associated with the barrier	Category Of independent variable	Major barrier Ophthalmology personnel face		Odd ratio(95%CI)	P-Value
		1.Lack of awareness
		Yes	No
Knowledge status	Knowledgeable	77	27	2.614(1.265-5.402)	0.009
	Not knowledgeable	24	22
		2.Lack of training
		Yes	No
Low vision rehabilitation services	Yes	9	10	2.614 (1.471, 10.945)	0.007
	No	24	107
		3. Lack of interest/motivation
		Yes	No
Age	≤30	67	30	2.519(1.059, 5.991)	0.037
	>30	45	8
Sex	Female	19	16	3.560(1.582, 8.012)	0.002
	Male	93	22
Organization where working	Governmental	103	29	3.552 (1.291, 9.768)	0.014
	None governmental	9	9
Over all knowledge status about low vision(Score of ≥3 out of 5 score	knowledgeable	85	19	3.148(1.459, 6.795)	0.003
	Not knowledgeable	27	19
Place where the training is obtained/being obtained	Ethiopia	108	32	5.062(1.345, 19.050)	0.016
	Foreign	4	6
		4.More work load and lack of man power
		Yes	No
Sex of participants	Female	18	17	5.444(2.352, 12.603)	<0.001
	Male	98	17
		5.Non-availability and expensiveness of low vision device
		Yes	No
Experience(years) for participants	≤5Years	7	105	3.387 (1.103, 10.398)	0.033
	>5Years	7	31
		6.Difficulty in satisfying patients and non-effectiveness of low vision care
		Yes	No
Organization where working	Governmental	111	21	3.364 (1.170, 9.672)	0.024
	None governmental	11	7
		7.Less profitability and time consumption of low vision care
		Yes	No
Organization where working	Governmental	120	12	5.0 (1.590, 15.722)	0.006
	None governmental	12	6

Table 4: Significant factors associated with barriers of ophthalmic personnel in providing low vision care

Practices	Frequency	Percent
Improving the availability of low vision devices	134	89.3
Creating public awareness	128	85.3
Creating awareness among practitioners	126	84.0
Availability of Low vision devices at low cost:	124	82.7
More training programs	121	80.7
Including Low vision as a part of curriculum	116	77.3

Tables at a glance

Figures at a glance