Trial of an Educational Intervention to Promote Spectacle Use Among Secondary School Children in Islamabad, Pakistan
Condition: Refractive Errors; Visual Impairment
MeSH terms: Vision Disorders; Vision, Low; Refractive Errors
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study is planned to test an educational intervention promoting the use of spectacles
      among secondary school children. It is based on the hypothesis that educating teachers,
      parents and children about the importance of wearing spectacles has the potential to increase
      spectacle wear among children.Reasons for non-compliance towards spectacle use will be
      explored and educational intervention will be planned considering these reasons. Educational
      intervention will increase awareness about the importance of spectacles use and reduce the
      barriers towards spectacle use.Reducing barriers will increase compliance towards spectacles
      use which will ultimately prevent the avoidable visual impairment.
    

Detailed description: 
      Aim of this research is to improve school performance and quality of life of children with
      refractive errors. Planned research will be carried out in eight (4 girls and 4 boys) Public
      Sector Secondary Schools of Islamabad and vision of students will be tested with standard
      snellen chart to recruit 120 boys and 120 girls with refractive errors. Students having
      vision ≤ 6/12 will receive auto refraction and prescription of spectacles will be given after
      subjective refraction. primary outcome of purchase of glasses will be asessed at three months
      after prescribing. Follow up after six months of prescribing spectacles will find out
      compliance towards spectacles. Non-compliant students will be given a questionnaire to
      provide the reasons for non-compliance towards spectacles. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
      will be conducted with non-compliant students, their teachers and parents to explore reasons
      of non compliance.

      On the basis of information obtained from FGDs an educational intervention will be planned
      for students, their parents and teahers to explain importance of spectacles. Through
      stratified randomization schools will be assigned to intervention and control groups. Four
      schools including two girls and two boys schools will be assigned to intervention group and
      four schools (two girls and two boys) will be assigned to control group. Educational
      intervention will be given to intervention group. Six months after the intervention
      compliance to spectacle wear will be assessed than pre and post intervention compliance in
      intervention group and between two groups will be compared to assess effectiveness of
      intervention.
    

Intervention name(s): Educational intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Educational intervention will be given by trained optometrists to participants (requiring spectacles) their parents and teachers. Duration of Intervention will be about one hours and it includes:
Lectures on importance of spectacles use including visual materials such as pictures and videos.
An interactive classroom based demonstration carried out by trained optometrist. Children will be asked to read from blackboard, written to be visible with 6/6 vision, while seated at a distance of 6m. After this children will be given their glasses and asked to read again. The purpose of this demonstration is to make children aware of their poor vision and of the potential impact of corrected VA.
Posters
Brochures
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Study will involve two groups intervention group and no intervention (control) group. each group will include two boys and two girls schools. Educational intervention will be given to two boys and two girls schools. Remaining two boys and two girls schools will not receive educational intervention. Simultaneous follow-ups will be carried out in two groups to assess compliance towards spectacles use.
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention