1. Regional differences in vision health: findings from Mwanza, Tanzania.
- Author
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Aggarwal, Sahil, Ju, David, Allen, Angela M, Rose, Laura A, Gill, Karam P, Shen, S Aricia, Temko, Jamie E, Chang, Irene, Faraj, Jessica, Brabender, Danielle E, Herbst de Cortina, Sasha, Marik-Reis, Olivia, and Mehta, Mitul C
- Subjects
Eye Disease and Disorders of Vision ,Neurosciences ,Health Services ,Clinical Research ,Mental Health ,Behavioral and Social Science ,7.1 Individual care needs ,Management of diseases and conditions ,Eye ,Good Health and Well Being ,Adult ,Aged ,Female ,Health Services Accessibility ,Health Status ,Humans ,Male ,Middle Aged ,Needs Assessment ,Ophthalmology ,Optometry ,Patient Acceptance of Health Care ,Quality of Life ,Residence Characteristics ,Social Participation ,Socioeconomic Factors ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Tanzania ,Vision Disorders ,Vision ,Low ,global health ,Mwanza ,ophthalmology ,optometry ,visual functioning questionnaire ,Medical and Health Sciences - Abstract
BackgroundVisual impairment in developing countries has both social and economic impact on individuals and communities. Understanding the subjective visual functioning of populations will allow for local policymakers to identify the need for optometric or ophthalmic services in their communities.MethodsThe authors surveyed 644 adult patients in Mwanza, Tanzania at three clinics (Buzuruga, Mwananchi and Kisesa) using a modified Visual Functioning Questionnaire 25. Responses were categorized into General health, General vision, Ocular pain, Near activities, Distance activities, Social function, Mental health, Role difficulties, Color vision, Peripheral vision and Dependency.ResultsPatients at Buzuruga reported the lowest scores on most subscales. Of 100 employed patients, 37% claimed to have at least some difficulty in performing job duties due to their eyesight. At Kisesa, 146 (246/221) patients (66.1%) had never had an eye exam, compared with 134/227 (59.0%) at Buzuruga and 69/173 (39.9%) at Mwananchi (p
- Published
- 2018