ABSTRACT
Purpose: The evaluation of visual impairment requires the measurement of visual acuity with a validated and standard logMAR visual acuity chart. We aimed to construct and validate new logMAR visual acuity chart in Indian languages (Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Assamese). Methods: The commonly used font in each language was chosen as the reference and designed to fit the 5 � 5 grid (Adobe Photoshop). Ten letters (easiest to difficult) around median legibility score calculated for each language based on the results of legibility experiment and differing by 10% were selected. The chart was constructed based on the standard recommendations. The repeatability of charts was tested and also compared with a standard English Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) logMAR chart for validation. Results: A total of 14 rows (1.0 to -0.3 logMAR) with five letters in each line were designed with the range of row legibility between 4.7 and 5.3 for all the language charts. Each chart showed good repeatability, and a maximum difference of four letters was noted. The median difference in visual acuity was 0.16 logMAR for Urdu and Assamese chart compared to ETDRS English chart. Hindi and Malayalam chart had a median difference of 0.12 logMAR. When compared to the English chart a median difference of 0.14 logMAR was noted in Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali chart. Conclusion: The newly developed Indian language visual acuity charts are designed based on the standard recommendations and will help to assess visual impairment in people of these languages across the country.
ABSTRACT
Introducción. El tipo adecuado de prensión del lápiz permite realizar movimientos coordinados al escribir. Los tipos inadecuados de prensión pueden causar dificultades en la legibilidad escrita. La escritura es un proceso de aprendizaje en el que intervienen factores conceptuales, sintácticos y motores que permiten la comunicación. Objetivo. Describir el tipo de prensión del lápiz y la legibilidad en la escritura de universitarios de 18 a 24 años de edad. Material y métodos. Estudio observacional, descriptivo, transversal y prospectivo. Participaron 60 estudiantes (30 mujeres y 30 hombres) de lateralidad diestra de la Licenciatura en Psicología. En forma individual, se realizaron tareas de escritura en donde se describió el tipo de prensión y la legibilidad en la escritura de los participantes. Resultados. El 93% de los casos presentaron tipos inadecuados de prensión del lápiz. El 68% de esos casos tuvieron escritura legible predominando en los casos que presentaban presión en los dedos. Los casos con prensión adecuada no presentaron ilegibilidad en escritura. Discusión y conclusiones. No se encontró un patrón específico entre el tipo de prensión y la legibilidad en la escritura. Se deben generar estrategias para proponer la corrección de los tipos inadecuados de prensión del lápiz desde la educación básica.
Introduction. Adequate pencil grip permits coordinated movements used in writing. Inadequate pencil grip can generate difficulties in writing legibility. Writing is a learning process in which conceptual, syntactic and motor factors are involved, who allows the communication. Objective. Describe the type of pencil grip and the legibility of 18 to 24 years old undergraduates writing. Material and methods. An observational, descriptive, transversal and prospective study. Sixty right-handed Psychology undergraduate students (30 women and 30 men) participated. In an individual manner, subjects realized writing tasks in which we described the type of grip and the legibility on the participants writing. Results. 93% of cases presented inadequate pencil grip. 68% of those cases showed legible writing prevailing on the cases that presented pressure on their fingers. The cases with adequate pencil grip did not present illegibility in writing. Discussion and conclusions. We did not find a specific pattern between the type of pencil grip and writing. It is necessary to suggest strategies for correcting inadequate pencil grip from basic education.
Subject(s)
Young Adult , HandwritingABSTRACT
The quality of prescribing influences to a large extent the health outcomes of patients as errors made could result in adverse drug reactions. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of prescription written by medical doctors in a tertiary healthcare facility in rural south-west Nigeria. A cross-sectional retrospective analysis of randomly selected prescriptions from all adult outpatient clinics of the hospital between October 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011 was carried out. The prescriptions were checked for the completeness of the patients’ bio-data (name, age, sex, and hospital number), accuracy of drug dosage and formulation, prescribing by generic name, use of abbreviation, legibility of prescriber’s writing, the name and signature of the prescriber. Six hundred and two (602) prescriptions were collected and used for analysis. A total of 2167 medications were prescribed with a mean of 3.6 ± 1.6 per encounter. All the prescriptions had patient’s name and hospital numbers written. The age, hospital number and address of the patients was recorded in 421 (69.9%), 480 (79.7%) and 323 (53.7%) respectively. The doctor’s name, signature and date of encounter was indicated 587 (97.5%), 546 (90.7%) and 556 (92.7%) respectively. The mean legibility score was 2.53 ± 0.51 out of a possible score 4. The findings of our study show that there is a need for improvement in the quality of prescription written by Nigerian doctors. The adoption of a computer –aided prescribing system would go a long way in achieving this objective.