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To investigate the effectiveness, efficiency and cost gains in collecting patient eye health information from remote rural villages of India by trained field investigators through an Android Based Tablet Application namely `Sankara Electronic Remote Vision Information System (SERVIS)". During January and March 2016, a population based cross-sectional study was conducted in three Indian states employing SERVIS and manual method. The SERVIS application has a 48-items survey instrument programed into the application. Data on 281 individuals were collected for each of these methods as part of screening. The demographic details of individuals between both screening methods were comparable (P>0.05). The mean time (in minutes) to screen an individual by SERVIS was significantly less when compared to manual method (6.57±1.46 versus 11.93±1.53) (P

Background: Cataract is the leading cause of avoidable blindness in most parts of developing world, including India. The objectives were to assess cataract surgical coverage (CSC) and investigate the determinants for CSC among people aged 50 years or older in India.Methods: A population-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted to include 2023 residents aged ≥50 years old from 72 clusters of 20 districts in six states from various parts of India. Presenting visual acuity (VA), history of cataract surgery and operable cataract were assessed by trained professionals. Prevalence of CSC and factors influencing cataract surgery (CS) were studied in the multivariable logistic regression model. A two-sided p-value of

BackgroundTo explore the hypothesis that sight restoring cataract surgery provided to impoverished rural communities will improve not only visual acuity and vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) but also poverty and social status.MethodsParticipants were recruited at outreach camps in Tamil Nadu, South India, and underwent free routine manual small incision cataract surgery (SICS) with intra-ocular lens (IOL) implantation, and were followed up one year later. Poverty was measured as monthly household income, being engaged in income generating activities and number of working household members. Social status was measured as rates of re-marriage amongst widowed participants. VRQoL was measured using the IND-VFQ-33. Associations were explored using logistic regression (SPSS 19).ResultsOf the 294 participants, mean age ± standard deviation (SD) 60 ± 8 years, 54% men, only 11% remained vision impaired at follow up (67% at baseline; pConclusionThese findings indicate the broad positive impact of sight restoring cataract surgery on the recipients' as well as their families' lives. Providing free high quality cataract surgery to marginalized rural communities will not only alleviate avoidable blindness but also - to some extent - poverty in the long run.

The prevalence of visual loss and blindness from cataract remains high in India. Marginalized communities are frequently reached through outreach clinics. The aim of this study was to explore the hypothesis that regular outreach, held in the same location by the same provider, leads to greater acceptance of cataract surgery than outreach clinics that are irregular in terms of timing and location.The study was integrated into outreach clinics run in two districts by Sankara Eye Centre, Coimbatore, Southern India. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to patients who had attended outreach eye clinics and either accepted or not accepted the offer of cataract surgery.Overall acceptance of surgery was high (91.7%), being higher in the district with regular outreach (94.6%vs. 82.3%, P0.001). A total of 398 participants (240, 60% acceptors) were interviewed. Acceptors were more likely to live in smaller households and in supportive families than non-acceptors who lived in larger families which could not provide support and where transport and distance were also barriers (P .001). Attending regular outreach and having had first eye cataract surgery were independent predictors of acceptance in a logistic regression model.The findings indicate the importance of providers building trust by organizing regular outreach in the same location. Previous eye surgery was also a strong predictor of accepting cataract surgery. To promote universal access to health care, marginalized rural communities will continue to need outreach for some time to come.