Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Implementation of Non-invasive Point of Care Transient Elastography for Evaluation of Liver Disease in Pediatric Populations with Cystic Fibrosis
05:56

Implementation of Non-invasive Point of Care Transient Elastography for Evaluation of Liver Disease in Pediatric Populations with Cystic Fibrosis

Published on: August 29, 2025

459

Pediatric Case Finding in Madagascar: A Controlled, Prospective Population-based Assessment of Key Informant

Jeannot Richard Rasoloniaina1, Richard Raberosoa1, Philippe Rakotondrajoa2

  • 1FLM SALFA Fitsaboana Maso Antsirabe, Antsirabe, Madagascar.

Ophthalmic Epidemiology
|July 6, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Adding Key Informants (KI) to eye care outreach significantly increased the number of children screened for visual impairment and blindness. This strategy proved cost-effective, identifying more children needing services with only a modest rise in expenses.

Area of Science:

  • Ophthalmology
  • Public Health
  • Global Health

Background:

  • Key Informant (KI) case finding trains community members to identify children with eye problems.
  • This method is common for referring children with visual impairment and blindness to services.
  • Previous studies have not evaluated the benefit and cost of integrating KIs into routine outreach.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the benefit and cost-effectiveness of adding Key Informants (KIs) to routine eye care outreach activities.
  • To assess the impact of KIs on the number of children identified with eye conditions, including visual impairment and blindness.

Main Methods:

  • Four eye programs in Madagascar integrated KIs into a portion of their established outreach camps over one year.
  • KIs recorded screened children and their attendance, while outreach personnel collected demographic, visual acuity, diagnosis, and treatment data.
  • Costs associated with the KI program and outreach camps were systematically collected.

Main Results:

  • Outreach camps with KIs identified significantly more children (average 61 vs. 24) and children with eye problems (average 50 vs. 19) compared to regular camps.
  • KI camps identified more children with moderate to severe visual impairment or blindness (21 vs. 8 per 10 camps).
  • KI camps incurred a modest additional cost of $463 per camp and $3 per child seen.

Conclusions:

  • The Key Informant method substantially increased child participation in outreach camps across all visual impairment levels.
  • This strategy effectively identifies more children with visual impairment and blindness.
  • The KI approach offers a cost-effective enhancement to existing eye care outreach services.

Keywords:
Case FindingChildhood BlindnessCommunity OutreachKey InformantMadagascar

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: Cost-Effective Transcriptomic Drug Screening - Unlocking New Targets06:40

Author Spotlight: Cost-Effective Transcriptomic Drug Screening - Unlocking New Targets

Published on: February 23, 2024

1.8K
Co-culture of Glutamatergic Neurons and Pediatric High-Grade Glioma Cells Into Microfluidic Devices to Assess Electrical Interactions07:39

Co-culture of Glutamatergic Neurons and Pediatric High-Grade Glioma Cells Into Microfluidic Devices to Assess Electrical Interactions

Published on: November 17, 2021

3.9K

Related Concept Videos

Key Elements for Plant Nutrition02:35

Key Elements for Plant Nutrition

Like all living organisms, plants require organic and inorganic nutrients to survive, reproduce, grow and maintain homeostasis. To identify nutrients that are essential for plant functioning, researchers have leveraged a technique called hydroponics. In hydroponic culture systems, plants are grown—without soil—in water-based solutions containing nutrients. At least 17 nutrients have been identified as essential elements required by plants. Plants acquire these elements from the...
24.0K
Key Techniques in Microbiology01:19

Key Techniques in Microbiology

Aseptic techniques prevent contamination, ensure experimental accuracy, and protect researchers and microbial cultures. These techniques are essential in clinical, industrial, and research settings where sterility is required.Maintaining Sterility in Laboratory PracticesScientists maintain sterility by sterilizing tools with heat or chemicals, disinfecting work surfaces, and handling cultures in controlled environments. Working near an open flame or within a laminar flow hood reduces the risk...
1.8K
Finding the Center of Gravity01:03

Finding the Center of Gravity

The center of gravity of a body is an imaginary point where the body's total weight is assumed to be concentrated, and the body is perfectly balanced. The center of the mass of a body is a point at which the whole of the mass of the body appears to be concentrated. If the acceleration due to gravity, g, has the same value at all points on a body, its center of gravity is identical to its center of mass. The center of gravity of homogeneous bodies such as a sphere, cube, or rectangular plate...
4.3K
Conservation of Small Populations02:04

Conservation of Small Populations

Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less...
16.7K
What is Population Genetics?01:25

What is Population Genetics?

A population is composed of members of the same species that simultaneously live and interact in the same area. When individuals in a population breed, they pass down their genes to their offspring. Many of these genes are polymorphic, meaning that they occur in multiple variants. Such variations of a gene are referred to as alleles. The collective set of all the alleles within a population is known as the gene pool.
64.5K
Population Growth00:57

Population Growth

Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.
28.0K