Physical properties of soft contact lens multipurpose solutions commercially available in Ghana.

Purpose: To investigate the physical properties of commercially available multipurpose soft contact lens solutions in Ghana.

Methods: pH (Kelilong ICL-099 pH meter, China), osmolality (OSMOMAT 3000, GONOTEC, Germany), surface tension (Sigma 700 Tensiometer, Sweden), and viscosity (CFOC-200 Viscometer, Cannon Company, USA) of various soft contact lens multipurpose solutions (MPS) were measured in triplicates at room temperature. Viscosity measurements were also taken at 34 °C ocular surface temperature.

Utilization of eye care services in an underserved community in Enugu State, Nigeria.

Background And Aim: To determine the utilization of eye care services in an underserved community in Enugu State, Nigeria.

Materials And Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among adults aged 18 years and older. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on the utilization of eye care services within the last two years.

Contact Lens Prescribing Patterns in a University Clinic in Trinidad and Tobago.

The study assessed the contact lens prescribing patterns and associated factors in a university optometry clinic in Trinidad and Tobago. The data relating to habitual or new contact lens (CL) prescribing patterns among wearers over a two-year period were reviewed. Pearson's chi-squared test and logistic regression models were used to analyze the findings.

Demographic profiles of contact lens wearers and their association with lens wear characteristics in Trinidad and Tobago: A retrospective study.

Purpose: Contact lenses (CL) remain a popular mode of refractive error correction globally and in the Caribbean, mostly among young people. However, no data on the characteristics of the CL population wearers in the Caribbean is available. This study reported on the characteristics of CL wearers and the associated factors in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).

Accuracy of Noncycloplegic Refraction for Detecting Refractive Errors in School-aged African Children.

Significance: Cycloplegia is often restricted in screening settings. Previous studies have evaluated noncycloplegic refraction for screening, but their data are not fully applicable to school-aged African children. This article adds to the literature by investigating this in school-aged African children.

Contact Lens- and Patient-related Factors Associated with Contact Lens Discomfort among Contact Lens Wearers in an African Cohort.

Significance: No information is available on contact lens discomfort in any African population. Such information may be helpful in developing the scope and priorities for intervention.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine contact lens- and patient-related factors associated with contact lens discomfort among wearers in Ghana.

Assessment of four validated questionnaires for screening of dry eye disease in an African cohort.

Purpose: To evaluate the 5-item dry eye questionnaire (DEQ-5) for measurement precision and unidimensionality, and assess the ability of Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), McMonnies Dry Eye Questionnaire (MQ), Ocular Comfort Index questionnaires (OCI), and DEQ to predict clinical measures of DED in an African population.

Method: Participants (n = 113; mean age 24.7 ± 5.

Socio-demographic factors modify awareness, knowledge, and perceived risk of glaucoma in rural and urban residents in Ghana: a population-based survey.

Purpose: To evaluate the awareness, knowledge and the perception of risks of glaucoma among rural and urban dwellers in Ghana, a high prevalent country, in order to provide information for health promotion planning.

Method: In a population-based descriptive cross-sectional survey, 1200 adults were selected from household settings, using a two-stage cluster and simple systematic random sampling. Quantitative data collection, using interviewer-administered questionnaire, was employed.

Ocular Symptoms of SARS-CoV-2: Indication of Possible Ocular Transmission or Viral Shedding.

The recently identified novel coronavirus (CoV), the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While published data about other highly infectious human COVs [that is, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)] provide helpful information about the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, there is limited understanding surrounding knowledge of ocular manifestation of the virus. This paper reviews published data which reveal the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in tears and conjunctival scrappings of some COVID-19 patients by real-time-polymerase chain reaction assay, although the detection rate is low compared to samples from respiratory sites.

Oral consumption of Garcinia kola(Bitter kola) lowers intraocular pressure.

Purpose: Garcinia kola (bitter kola) is locally ingested across the West African subregion. It has ocular hypotensive effects similar to some commonly used glaucoma medications when administered topically. The study assessed the effect of oral ingestion of G.

Normative Values of Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness and Optic Nerve Head Parameters and Their Association with Visual Function in an African Population.

Purpose: To determine normative values of retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (RNFL) and optic nerve head (ONH) parameters and their association with routine clinical tests such as refractive error (RE), stereoacuity (SA), and contrast sensitivity (CS) in an African population.

Methods: In a cross-sectional observational study, 100 normal subjects aged 20 to 78 years were evaluated using the Cirrus HD-OCT 5000 and matched with 200 glaucoma patients.

Results: Average (±SD) RNFL thickness for normal subjects was found to be 102.

Inter-regional trends in causes of childhood blindness and low vision in Ghana.

Background: Inter-regional trends of visual loss in most developing countries remain largely unknown. We compared the causes of childhood blindness among children attending blind schools in the northern (one school) and southern (two schools) regions of Ghana and assessed their need for spectacles and low-vision devices.

Methods: Using a standardised methodology, children were examined by an ophthalmologist and optometrists in each location.

Self-adjustable Spectacle Wearing Compliance and Associated Factors among Rural School Children in Ghana.

Significance: Self-adjustable spectacles are increasingly being used in refractive service delivery programs in developing countries. Despite the success of self-refraction as a refraction technique, compliance with actual wear of adjustable spectacles has not been evaluated. Findings in this study have significant programmatic implications for the effectiveness and sustainability of this mode of correction in developing countries.

Knowledge, usage and barriers associated with contact lens wear in Ghana.

Background: Despite findings that contact lens wear for vision correction provides better quality of life than spectacles, contact lens use in developing countries is low. This study evaluated knowledge, usage and barriers associated with contact lens wear among spectacle wearers in Cape Coast, Ghana.

Method: A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted on an adult population of spectacle wearers to assess their knowledge of contact lens wear for vision correction.

Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment and Blindness among Cocoa Farmers in Ghana.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and causes of visual impairment and blindness among cocoa farmers in Ghana in order to formulate early intervention strategies.

Methods: A cross-sectional study using multistage random sampling from four cocoa growing districts in Ghana was conducted from November 2013 to April 2014. A total of 512 cocoa farmers aged 40 years and older were interviewed and examined.

Effect of preserved and preservative-free timolol eye drops on tear film stability in healthy Africans.

Background: Preserved versus nonpreserved formulations for ophthalmic use have been well described in the literature although not specifically in the African population where beta blockers are frequently used as the first-line therapy due to economic and availability issues. This study sought to determine the effect of preserved and preservative-free Timolol eye drops on tear film stability in healthy black Africans.

Materials And Methods: Sixty healthy nondry eye subjects aged 19-25 years were randomly assigned into four groups (n = 15) and differently treated with eye drops of phosphate buffered saline (PBS), preservative-free timolol (PFT), benzalkonium chloride (BAK) only, and BAK-preserved timolol (BPT).

Evaluation of Blood Transfusions in Anemic Children in Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital, Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana.

Blood transfusion is a common practice in sub-Saharan Africa as a way of correcting anemia in children with mild and severe sicknesses. This study evaluated this practice in a secondary health-care institution in Ghana. A retrospective study was done over a 3-year period from January 2010 to December 2012.

Epidemiology of Ocular Toxoplasmosis in Three Community Surveys in the Central Region of Ghana, West Africa.

Purpose: To conduct the first ever population-based survey on ocular toxoplasmosis in the Central Region of Ghana.

Methods: A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted in three randomly selected communities in the Central Region, Ghana. Visual acuity (VA) measurement, dilated fundus examination by indirect ophthalmoscopy and serology testing were performed on all participants.

Fasting Plasma Sugar: A Predictor of Accommodative Function in Diabetes.

Background: Diabetes has been associated with decline in accommodative function in some ethnic groups. This outcome, however, could differ since ethnic variations in accommodation have been noted. This study investigated the relationship between plasma sugar level on subjective accommodative amplitude and accommodative lag in black Africans with type-1 diabetes.

Factors associated with protective eyewear use among cocoa farmers in Ghana.

To determine the factors that are associated with the use of protective eyewear (PEW) among cocoa farmers in Ghana, a multistage random sample of 556 cocoa farmers were recruited from four districts in the country. A questionnaire was used to elicit information on the use of PEW and barriers to its use among these farmers. Only 34 (6.

Visual impairment attributable to uncorrected refractive error and other causes in the Ghanaian youth: The University of Cape Coast Survey.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of visual impairment attributable to refractive error and other causes in a youthful Ghanaian population.

Methods: A prospective survey of all consecutive visits by first-year tertiary students to the Optometry clinic between August, 2013 and April, 2014. Of the 4378 first-year students aged 16-39 years enumerated, 3437 (78.

Self-refraction accuracy with adjustable spectacles among children in Ghana.

Purpose: To determine the accuracy of self-refraction (SR) in myopic teenagers, we compared visual and refractive outcomes of self-refracting spectacles (FocusSpecs) with those obtained using cycloplegic subjective refraction (CSR) as a gold standard.

Methods: A total of 203 eligible schoolchildren (mean [±SD] age, 13.8 [±1.

Prevalence of congenital eye anomalies in a paediatric clinic in Ghana.

There is little information about the epidemiology of congenital eye anomalies in Ghana. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 485 admissions to the paediatric eye centre of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana (2004-2009) and 263 were diagnosed with at least one anomaly. Visual acuity was quantitatively assessed in 209 patients and 130 had some visual impairment; 49 with bilateral and 64 with unilateral blindness.

The efficacy of stingless bee honey for the treatment of bacteria-induced conjunctivitis in guinea pigs.

The efficacy of the conjunctival application of a crude concentration of stingless bee honey (SBH) for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis was investigated in an animal model. Bacterial conjunctivitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa was induced in Hartley guinea pigs. The conjunctival application of SBH or gentamicin was used for treatment, and the results of this treatment were compared with control values.