Spectacle wearing in children with uncorrected refractive errors Eye Diseases Refractive errors
Conditions
Interventions
Children will be randomly allocated to one of two arms:
1. Intervention: ready-made spectacles with the same prescription in each eye
2. Comparator: prescription specta
each eye can have a different prescription, including astigmatic correction.
Although ready-made spectacles are available for bulk purchase, in this study all spectacles will be made
Sponsors
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Age 11–15 years 2. Visual acuity (i.e., with spectacles if usually worn) of less than 6/9 in one or both eyes 3. Visual acuity with full correction improves by two or more lines in the better seeing eye 4. Spherical equivalent (i.e., the sum of the myopic or hypermetropic prescription in dioptres (D) plus half the astigmatic cylindrical prescription) corrects the visual acuity to equal to or not more than one line less than best corrected visual acuity with a full prescription in the better eye 5. Difference between the spherical equivalents of the right and left eyes is not >1 D 6. Inter-pupillary distance matches that of ready-made spectacle frames 7. Spectacle frame is of acceptable size and fit
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Other causes of visual loss 2. Visual acuity does not improve adequately with a spherical lens 3. >1 D of anisometropia These children will be dispensed prescription spectacles, but will not be recruited to the trial.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Proportion of children in each arm of the trial who are wearing their spectacles at unannounced visits 3–4 months after refraction: 1. Children wearing spectacles at the time of the unannounced visit 2. Children not wearing spectacles at the time of the visit, but have them at school 3. Children not wearing spectacles at the time of the visit, but say they are at home 4. Children say they no longer have the spectacles because they are broken or lost Categories 1 or 2 will be defined as spectacle wearing, and categories 3 or 4 as non-spectacle wearing (Wedner, 2008). | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Cost savings to the programme of dispensing ready-made spectacles: this analysis will only be undertaken should the trial demonstrate non-inferiority 2. Reasons for not wearing spectacles, assessed at 8 weeks with a simple questionnaire | — |
Countries
India
Outcome results
None listed