Access to community-based eye services in Meru, Kenya: a cross-sectional equity analysis.

Background: Over 80% of blindness in Kenya is due to curable or preventable causes and 7.5 m Kenyans currently need eye services. Embedding sociodemographic data collection into screening programmes could help identify the groups facing systematic barriers to care.

The Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness survey: Review of the methodology and protocol for the seventh version (RAAB7).

The Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) is a population-based cross-sectional survey methodology used to collect data on the prevalence of vision impairment and its causes and eye care service indicators among the population 50 years and older. RAAB has been used for over 20 years with modifications to the protocol over time reflected in changing version numbers; this paper describes the latest version of the methodology-RAAB7. RAAB7 is a collaborative project between the International Centre for Eye Health and Peek Vision with guidance from a steering group of global eye health stakeholders.

Near vision data and near correction requirements from community eye health programmes in nine countries.

Background: Recent estimates of global prevalence of uncorrected presbyopia range from 510 to 826 million. There is a shortage of primary data regarding Near Visual Impairment (NVI) magnitude.

Methods: Near visual acuity (NVA) and NVI data was collected from over 388,000 people aged 35 or over across 9 countries, within Community Eye Health programmes between January 2022 and June 2023.

Improving equity, efficiency and adherence to referral in Pakistan's eye health programmes: Pre- and post-pandemic onset.

Background: Over one billion people worldwide live with avoidable blindness or vision impairment. Eye Health Programmes tackle this by providing screening, primary eye care, refractive correction, and referral to hospital eye services. One point where patients can be lost in the treatment journey is adherence to hospital referral.

Development and Validation of a Smartphone-based Contrast Sensitivity Test.

Purpose: Contrast sensitivity (CS) testing is an important measure of visual function reflecting variations in everyday visual experience in different conditions and helps to identify more subtle vision loss. However, it is only infrequently used. To make this more accessible, we have developed and validated a smartphone-based CS test.

Towards a workflow driven design for mHealth devices within temporary eye clinics in low-income settings.

Only a small minority of mobile healthcare technologies that have been successful in pilot studies have subsequently been integrated into healthcare systems. Understanding the reasons behind this discrepancy is crucial if such technologies are to be adopted. We believe that the mismatch is due to a breakdown in the relation between technical soundness of the original mobile health (mHealth) device design, and integration into healthcare provision workflows.

Clinical Validation of a Smartphone-Based Adapter for Optic Disc Imaging in Kenya.

Importance: Visualization and interpretation of the optic nerve and retina are essential parts of most physical examinations.

Objective: To design and validate a smartphone-based retinal adapter enabling image capture and remote grading of the retina.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This validation study compared the grading of optic nerves from smartphone images with those of a digital retinal camera.

The Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Workflow: Potential for Smartphone Imaging.

Complications of diabetes mellitus, namely diabetic retinopathy and diabetic maculopathy, are the leading cause of blindness in working aged people. Sufferers can avoid blindness if identified early via retinal imaging. Systematic screening of the diabetic population has been shown to greatly reduce the prevalence and incidence of blindness within the population.

A smartphone based ophthalmoscope.

A low-cost alternative to the direct ophthalmoscope, a simple optical adapter for a smartphone, is described. It can overcome many of the technical challenges of fundoscopy, providing a high-resolution view of the retina through an un-dilated pupil. This can be used in locations with limited diagnostic resources to detect conditions such as glaucomatous optic neuropathy.