Presbyopia and Other Eye Conditions in Teachers in Ghana

Charles Koduah, Catey Bunce and Clare Gilbert
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Charles Koduah: Vision For A Nation Foundation, Accra GA496, Ghana
Catey Bunce: Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London SE1 1UL, UK
Clare Gilbert: Department of Clinical Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-9

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to assess the eye health needs of school teachers in the Asutifi districts of Ghana. Presenting distance visual acuity was measured in each eye. Those with visual acuity of <6/12 in one or both eyes had subjective refraction. All underwent basic eye examination and near functional vision was assessed for teachers aged ≥35 years using the Near Activity Visual Questionnaire (NVAQ). Teachers with uncorrected presbyopia were given a near correction and NVAQ was assessed again at two weeks. Three hundred teachers were examined with mean (SD) age of 36.5 (9.7) years, 54.3% were male and 6.3% (95% CI: 3.8 to 9.8%) had a presenting acuity of <6/12 in one or both eyes. The estimated prevalence of moderate visual impairment was 0.7% (95% CI: 0.08 to 2.4%). Lens opacities (50%) and refractive error (18%) were the main causes of visual loss. Seventy-five out of 136 (55.1%, 95% CI: 46.6 to 63.4%) of teachers aged ≥35 years were presbyopic, 45.3% (95% CI: 36.9 to 53.7%) of whom had presbyopic correction. Lack of awareness was the major barrier to presbyopic correction. Median Rasch score for teachers given presbyopic correction ( n = 39) decreased by 60.6% from 46.0 (IQR: 10.7 to 72.8) to 18.1 (IQR: 0 to 58.9) and overall satisfaction with near vision improved at follow up. Prevalence of presbyopia was high, and spectacles improved satisfaction with near vision.

Keywords: presbyopia; visual function; Near Activity Visual Questionnaire (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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