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An extraordinary role for village community development workers in diagnosing blindness in the community
R Masanganise1, P Nhindiri, C Tota
1University of Zimbabwe Medical School, Department of Surgery, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Objective:
To determine the reliability of village community development workers in screening for blindness in the community and to suggest an extraordinary role for these cadres.
Design:
Diagnostic study.
Setting:
Chivi District, Zimbabwe.
Subjects:
A simple random sample of 148 out of 886 people selected from notification forms.
Main Outcome Measure:
Sensitivity, specificity and predictive values.
Results:
The screening method employed was found to have a sensitivity of 93% (95% CI), specificity of 32% (95% CI) and a predictive value for a positive result of 75%.
Conclusion:
The use of village community development workers to screen for blindness in the community has proved to be a reliable alternative when there is shortage of both ophthalmic trained personnel and funds.