Community Health Workers for Prevention of Corneal Ulcers in South India: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.

Purpose: To determine whether a community health worker (CHW) program increases referrals to local eye care providers and ultimately reduces the incidence of corneal ulcers.

Design: Cluster-randomized trial performed from 2014 to 2017 in rural South India.

Methods: This was a community-based study that included all inhabitants of 42 rural South Indian communities.

Making the decision to donate eyes: Perspectives from the families of the deceased in Madurai, India.

Purpose: To identify factors affecting family members' decision whether to donate eye organs.

Methods: A community-based case-control study based on in-home interviews with families of deceased individuals who had or had not donated eye organs, in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, India. Data collected were knowledge and awareness of eye donations, whether the deceased individual had expressed or pledged willingness to donate, and family members' attitudes and willingness to donate their own eye organs.

Diabetes mellitus in the Tamil Nadu State-Noncommunicable diseases nurse model in diabetic retinopathy screening.

Tamil Nadu is one of the states in India, where the diabetic retinopathy (DR) project was implemented in the Tirunelveli District. Aravind Eye Hospital, Tirunelveli was the mentoring institution and ophthalmology department of Tirunelveli Medical College and Hospital (TVMCH) was the implementing partner. The objective of the project was to develop a district level model for building capacity at the government health system for effective screening, diagnosis and management (primary to tertiary) of diabetic retinopathy.

The key informant strategy to determine the prevalence and causes of functional low vision among children in South India.

Purpose: To report the prevalence and causes of functional low vision (FLV) in school-age children in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India and to report our experience using the key informant (KI) method in this setting.

Methods: Children suspected of having low vision were identified by KIs or Aravind Eye Hospital personnel in Coimbatore District. All identified children underwent a cycloplegic refraction and full eye exam.

Economic and social factors that influence households not willing to undergo cataract surgery.

Purpose: Literature investigating barriers to cataract surgery is mostly done from the patient's point of view. However, many medical decisions are jointly taken by household members, especially in developing countries such as India. We investigated from the household head's (or representative's) perspective, households' view on those not willing to undergo cataract surgery along with the economic and social factors associated with it.

Cluster randomized trial to compare spectacle delivery systems at outreach eye camps in South India.

Purpose: To study the optimal method for delivery of spectacles at eye camps to maximize procurement and use.

Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial, undertaken in the catchment districts of Aravind Eye Hospital - Theni, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Community eye camps (n = 21) were allocated to offer one of three types of service for purchase of spectacles to correct refractive error: (1) Issuance of a prescription only; (2) booking orders for spectacles with subsequent delivery; (3) on-the-spot fitting and dispensing of spectacles.

Household preferences for cataract surgery in rural India: a population-based stated preference survey.

Purpose: Cataract surgery is provided both by the private and public sector in India. Free cataract surgery (with minimal amenities) funded through subsidies/reimbursements by government and non-governmental organizations is provided for underprivileged and poor patients, especially in rural areas. However, no evidence exists whether this free surgery is used by those who could afford to pay and are willing to pay for cataract surgery.

Quality of life after community-based rehabilitation for blind persons in a rural population of South India.

This study aimed to determine the impact of community-based rehabilitation on the quality of life of blind persons in a rural south Indian population. We performed a population-based survey followed by clinical examinations to identify blind persons in a rural south Indian population. Pre-and-post rehabilitation quality of life of 159 blind persons aged 15 years or above was ascertained through a questionnaire previously validated for use in this population.

Utilization of community-based rehabilitation services for incurably blind persons in a rural population of southern India.

Purpose: To identify barriers in utilisation of community based rehabilitation (CBR) services for incurably blind persons in rural South India.

Methods: A community-based rehabilitation programme for incurably blind persons was initiated in Theni district of southern Tamil Nadu in south India. After door-to-door enumeration and preliminary ocular screening by trained workers at the village, identified blind persons were categorised as either curable or incurable by an ophthalmologist.