Publications by authors named "Mariamo Abdala"
Purpose: Population-based prevalence surveys are essential for decision-making on interventions to achieve trachoma elimination as a public health problem. This paper outlines the methodologies of Tropical Data, which supports work to undertake those surveys.
Methods: Tropical Data is a consortium of partners that supports health ministries worldwide to conduct globally standardised prevalence surveys that conform to World Health Organization recommendations.
Article Synopsis
- Trachomatous trichiasis (TT) is a painful eye problem that can cause blindness, and women are affected more than men.
- Researchers studied data from 20 African countries to see how men and women are treated for TT and if there are differences.
- The results showed that women are more likely to have complications after surgery and are more likely to refuse surgery, suggesting there are some gender differences in how TT is managed.
Low-income countries carry approximately 90% of the global burden of visual impairment, and up to 80% of this could be prevented or cured. However, there are only a few studies on the prevalence of retinal disease in these countries. Easier access to retinal information would allow differential diagnosis and promote strategies to improve eye health, which are currently scarce.
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- Trachoma is a serious eye disease that can cause blindness, and improving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) is important to help prevent it.
- The study looked at how increasing access to clean water for washing faces and using toilets can reduce the number of children with trachoma.
- Findings suggest that having at least 65% of people using clean water for washing and 85% using proper toilets can help lower trachoma cases significantly.
Background: Global elimination of trachoma as a public health problem was targeted for 2020. We reviewed progress towards the elimination of active trachoma by country and geographical group.
Methods: In this retrospective analysis of national survey and implementation data, all countries ever known to be endemic for trachoma that had either implemented at least one trachoma impact survey shown in the publicly available Trachoma Atlas, or are in Africa were invited to participate in this study.
Article Synopsis
- - Trichiasis, where eyelashes touch the eye, can lead to blindness, making accurate prevalence data across affected regions essential for resource distribution.
- - A study collected district-level data from 44 countries, refining estimates using the most reliable sources, standardizing for age and sex, and incorporating expert assessments when data was scarce.
- - The 2016 global trichiasis estimate was 2.8 million cases, lower than earlier figures due to improved data quality, enhanced management services, and declines in active trachoma incidence.
Sample sizes in cluster surveys must be greater than those in surveys using simple random sampling in order to obtain similarly precise prevalence estimates, because results from subjects examined in the same cluster cannot be assumed to be independent. Therefore, a crucial aspect of cluster sampling is estimation of the intracluster correlation coefficient (ρ): the degree of relatedness of outcomes in a given cluster, defined as the proportion of total variance accounted for by between-cluster variation. In infectious disease epidemiology, this coefficient is related to transmission patterns and the natural history of infection; its value also depends on particulars of survey design.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Whilst previous work has identified clustering of the active trachoma sign "trachomatous inflammation-follicular" (TF), there is limited understanding of the spatial structure of trachomatous trichiasis (TT), the rarer, end-stage, blinding form of disease. Here we use community-level TF prevalence, information on access to water and sanitation, and large-scale environmental and socio-economic indicators to model the spatial variation in community-level TT prevalence in Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC, Guinea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda.
Methods: We fit binomial mixed models, with community-level random effects, separately for each country.
Background: Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness. Until recently, reliable data on the global extent of the disease, detailed plans for elimination, and government, donor and partner engagement were all inadequate.
Methods: The trachoma community undertook a systematic, three-pronged strategy to map trachoma district by district, develop national-level trachoma elimination plans, and create a framework for governments, donors and partners to convene and coordinate in support of trachoma elimination.
Purpose: Surveys are needed to guide trachoma control efforts in Mozambique, with WHO guidelines for intervention based on the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in children aged 1-9 years and the prevalence of trichiasis in adults aged 15 years and above. We conducted surveys to complete the map of trachoma prevalence in Mozambique.
Methods: Between July 2012 and May 2015, we carried out cross-sectional surveys in 96 evaluation units (EUs) covering 137 districts.