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Do recycled spectacles meet the refractive needs of a developing country?
Sue Ling Wan1, Seyhan Yazar, Lisa Booth
1Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Western Australia/ Lions Eye Institute, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Clinical & Experimental Optometry
|November 27, 2014
Summary
Recycled spectacles are often not a cost-effective solution in developing countries. A study found only 14.5% of custom spectacle prescriptions could be matched with donated eyewear.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Public Health
- Optometry
Background:
- Spectacle recycling programs aim to provide vision correction in low-resource settings.
- The effectiveness of these programs is often limited by the availability of suitable donated eyewear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the optical power of donated spectacles with custom-made spectacle prescriptions.
- To assess the feasibility of matching donated spectacles to refractive errors in a developing country.
Main Methods:
- Audited 200 consecutive spectacle prescriptions in Timor-Leste.
- Compared prescriptions to measurements of 2,075 wearable donated spectacles.
- Determined match rates and time required to find suitable donated spectacles.
Main Results:
- 1,854 donated spectacles were suitable for comparison.
- Only 14.5% (29 out of 200) of prescriptions could be matched to at least one pair of donated spectacles.
- Significant challenges exist in matching donated eyewear to individual prescription needs.
Conclusions:
- Recycling spectacles is not cost-effective when custom-made options are available.
- The low match rate suggests limitations in donated spectacle programs for meeting specific refractive needs.
- Focus should be on sustainable and tailored vision correction solutions in developing nations.
