RESUMEN
Purpose: Anemia is common in adolescent girls. Apprehension while drawing blood to estimate hemoglobin concentration is a barrier for confirming anemia. ToucHb, a noninvasive instrument that estimates the hemoglobin by taking an image of the exposed conjunctiva, was used during eye screening to help diagnose and treat anemia. Methods: ToucHb was used during secondary school eye screening and during house?to?house eye screening to estimate the hemoglobin concentration in the body. Each of the girls was distributed a packet of 60 tablets of ferrous and folate and a tablet of albendazole. They were followed up after 3 months. Results: Exactly 1511 municipal school girls aged 10?19 years (mean 12.9; standard deviation [SD] 1.64) were examined. Of them, 949 (62.8%) had hemoglobin of ?9 mg%. Among those girls with hemoglobin ?9 mg%, the mean (SD) during the initial and follow?up examinations was 6.1 (1.4) and 9.6 (1.03), respectively, by paired t?test (P < 0.001). Another 588 girls (average age 14.4 years, SD 1.2) had their eyes examined and hemoglobin estimated during a house?to?house eye screening. Of them, 116 (19.7%) had hemoglobin level of ?9 mg%. Their pre?Hb was 7.9 (SD 1.05) on average and after 3 months, it was 9.6 (SD 1.02). Among those girls with hemoglobin ?9 mg%, the mean (SD) during the initial and follow?up examinations was 6.2 (1.4) and 7.9 (1.1), respectively, by paired t?test (P < 0.001). Conclusion: ToucHb was useful to diagnose anemia while doing eye screening and to ensure its treatment. Anemia diagnosis and management would enhance the health of adolescent girls.
RESUMEN
Purpose: To estimate prevalence of common ocular morbidities including color blindness among school?attending children of an urban foothill town of Uttarakhand State in Northern India. Methods: A cross?sectional study was conducted among school?going children of age group 6–16 years of standard I– XII. Schools were selected using population proportionate to the size sampling technique. Detailed ocular examination including color vision and unaided or aided visual acuity for various ocular morbidities was done. Data was entered into MS excel with statistical analysis using SPSS version 23 with significant P value <0.05. Results: In total, 13,492 students (mean age 10.9 ± 2.7 years) with almost equal male to female ratio were screened. Overall prevalence of ocular morbidity was 23.2%, with refractive error (18.5%) on top, followed by color blindness (2.2%). The later was observed more among males (3.0%) as compared to females (1.4%) with significantly higher odds, OR = 2.3 (1.7–2.9) (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Refractive error has been the most common ocular morbidity, followed by color blindness. Earliest detection can prevent permanent disability and disappointment among youngsters when rejected from entering certain professions due to color vision defect
RESUMEN
Purpose: Compliance to spectacle wear is vital to elimination of avoidable blindness among schoolchildren. This study aims to understand the barriers to compliance and strategies to overcome the barriers from the perspectives of the service providers of the school vision-screening model. Methods: A snapshot qualitative study using focus group discussions (FGDs) was conducted among the service providers including eye care professionals (ECPs) and social workers that are part of the school screening program. Sessions were audio recorded and transcribed. Themes were formed following inductive coding using a conceptual framework. Results: Out of the three FGDs, two were with ECPs and one with social workers. Four subthemes identified under the barriers were poor awareness, spectacle-related, psychosocial, and financial barriers. Unique barriers according to the service providers included nonuse of spectacles by asymptomatic children, children with unilateral refractive errors and those with emmetropic parents. Service providers also brought out parent's feelings of guilt, doubts about their children's impaired vision, the negative self-image among children, and difficulties in obtaining funding to support the costs of screening. Solutions that emerged included the personal visit of professionals for spectacle distribution and counseling parents, demonstration of improvement in vision for activities that were difficult for the children without spectacles and rewarding, and role modeling of compliant children. Conclusion: This study had identified unique barriers and solutions from the perspectives of the service providers. The suggested strategies would aid in an effective schoolchildren vision screening practice to enhance compliance to spectacle wear.