Lation in Iran,16 amongst older Americans17 and elderly Chinese in Taiwan,18 levels of education were found to influence eye care service utilisation, as the more educated individuals were more likely to use eye care services. The elderly population are more likely to use eye care services, because they are more prone to eye diseases and the ocular manifestations of systemic fpsyg.2017.00209 diseases. Contrarily, societal journal.pone.0077579 attitudes and cultural beliefs have been found to constitute barriers to eye care utilisation.5,13,15,19,20 Good quality of eye care services and consumer satisfaction have also been reported to enhance utilisation of eye care services in a rural India study6 and in a Timor-Leste study population.9 In South Africa, barriers such as, non-availability, cost, poor accessibility of services, non-affordability, poor knowledge of available services, as well as cultural barriers have been reported to prevent order HS-173 people from using eye care services.20,21 Personal L868275 web communication with the head of the Public Health Department, Limpopo Province, suggests that the province is providing accessible and affordable eye care services. However, there have been no previous studies that have examined how effectively the services are being used or the satisfaction of the users, especially those living in rural communities where such services are highly needed. This study investigated the utilisation of the government eye care services amongst residents in rural villages within 5 km of government hospitals in the Capricorn district of the Limpopo province. Factors that might influence the utilisation of such services were also investigated.doi:10.4102/phcfm.v4i1.SettingThis study was carried out in villages within 5 km of government hospitals in the Capricorn district, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The district has a population of approximately 1.2 million people and a large proportion live in the rural areas.1 There were 38 villages with 35 831 households in the study area1 (5 km around the hospitals). There are seven municipalities in the district and each has a government hospital, six of which provide both ophthalmologic and optometric services. The hospitals are the PolokwaneMankweng complex, which is situated centrally (tertiary level hospital), in the east are three district hospitals (Seshego, W.F. Knobel and Helen Franz), in the south are Lebowakgomo (regional hospital) and Zebediela (district hospital), and lastly to the north is the Botlokwa district hospital. Mainly ophthalmologists and optometrists offer eye care services. Ophthalmologists provide medical and surgical management of eye diseases and optometrists manage the refractive conditions and refer the patients for ophthalmological services when indicated. All the hospitals offer optometry services except the Helen Franz Hospital. However, only the Polokwane-Mankweng complex (tertiary or teaching hospital) has resident ophthalmologists. These ophthalmologists may visit the regional or district hospitals to offer their services, but patients are often referred from these hospitals to the tertiary hospitals for ophthalmological services.Key focusThis study focuses on the utilisation of eye care services provided by the government to the rural communities living within 5 km from government hospitals and factors influencing utilisation of these services.BackgroundPeople living in the rural and remote areas are more likely to have visual impairment and blindness because of nonavailability; non-acce.Lation in Iran,16 amongst older Americans17 and elderly Chinese in Taiwan,18 levels of education were found to influence eye care service utilisation, as the more educated individuals were more likely to use eye care services. The elderly population are more likely to use eye care services, because they are more prone to eye diseases and the ocular manifestations of systemic fpsyg.2017.00209 diseases. Contrarily, societal journal.pone.0077579 attitudes and cultural beliefs have been found to constitute barriers to eye care utilisation.5,13,15,19,20 Good quality of eye care services and consumer satisfaction have also been reported to enhance utilisation of eye care services in a rural India study6 and in a Timor-Leste study population.9 In South Africa, barriers such as, non-availability, cost, poor accessibility of services, non-affordability, poor knowledge of available services, as well as cultural barriers have been reported to prevent people from using eye care services.20,21 Personal communication with the head of the Public Health Department, Limpopo Province, suggests that the province is providing accessible and affordable eye care services. However, there have been no previous studies that have examined how effectively the services are being used or the satisfaction of the users, especially those living in rural communities where such services are highly needed. This study investigated the utilisation of the government eye care services amongst residents in rural villages within 5 km of government hospitals in the Capricorn district of the Limpopo province. Factors that might influence the utilisation of such services were also investigated.doi:10.4102/phcfm.v4i1.SettingThis study was carried out in villages within 5 km of government hospitals in the Capricorn district, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The district has a population of approximately 1.2 million people and a large proportion live in the rural areas.1 There were 38 villages with 35 831 households in the study area1 (5 km around the hospitals). There are seven municipalities in the district and each has a government hospital, six of which provide both ophthalmologic and optometric services. The hospitals are the PolokwaneMankweng complex, which is situated centrally (tertiary level hospital), in the east are three district hospitals (Seshego, W.F. Knobel and Helen Franz), in the south are Lebowakgomo (regional hospital) and Zebediela (district hospital), and lastly to the north is the Botlokwa district hospital. Mainly ophthalmologists and optometrists offer eye care services. Ophthalmologists provide medical and surgical management of eye diseases and optometrists manage the refractive conditions and refer the patients for ophthalmological services when indicated. All the hospitals offer optometry services except the Helen Franz Hospital. However, only the Polokwane-Mankweng complex (tertiary or teaching hospital) has resident ophthalmologists. These ophthalmologists may visit the regional or district hospitals to offer their services, but patients are often referred from these hospitals to the tertiary hospitals for ophthalmological services.Key focusThis study focuses on the utilisation of eye care services provided by the government to the rural communities living within 5 km from government hospitals and factors influencing utilisation of these services.BackgroundPeople living in the rural and remote areas are more likely to have visual impairment and blindness because of nonavailability; non-acce.