Prevent Disease.com - Pre-Made Glasses Could Fix Vision Cheaply for Many



		Pre-Made Glasses Could Fix Vision Cheaply for Many NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Ready-made reading glasses can help many adults with impaired vision to see better, a new study demonstrates. These glasses could provide a cost-effective way to treat vision problems in the developing world, where eye-care resources are scarce, the researchers suggest. ``Many developing countries do not have optometrists or others trained in refraction or dispensing a prescription of spectacles,'' Dr. Raj Maini of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues write. With basic training, however, ''ready-made spectacles could easily be provided by paramedical staff.'' Refraction describes the eye's ability to bend a ray of light in a certain direction in order to form an image on the retina. Many vision problems are related to refractive error, which is relatively easy to correct. The ability of eyeglasses to correct refractive error is measured in diopters. Maini and his colleagues evaluated the feasibility of pre-made glasses to correct refractive errors in approximately 2,600 individuals, aged 40 to 60 years, from rural and urban areas in Victoria, Australia. About 500 (20%) of the study participants exhibited relatively mild vision problems that could be fixed by ''off-the-shelf'' spectacles, the researchers report in the November issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology. Stocking the glasses in half-diopter increments across a 7-diopter range would ensure that eyeglasses were on hand for nearly 90% of these people, the researchers note. ``Demand for ready-made spectacles may be low in urban Australia, but this study may be of practical application in diverse communities, especially in countries where optometric resources may be limited or nonexistent,'' the researchers write. ``This study has outlined that a campaign to improve the vision of large numbers of people with refractive error in line with Vision 2020 is warranted and feasible with potentially great benefits to be reaped,'' Maini and his colleagues conclude. Launched by the World Health Organization in 1999, Vision 2020 is a global initiative to eliminate preventable blindness by the year 2020. SOURCE: British Journal of Ophthalmology 2001;85:1283-1286. Reference Source 89 For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".