@article {1460383,
	title = {Meeting the need for corrective spectacles in visually impaired Chinese school children: the potential of ready-made spectacles},
	journal = {Br J Ophthalmol},
	volume = {103},
	number = {8},
	year = {2019},
	month = {2019 Aug},
	pages = {1106-1111},
	abstract = {PURPOSE: To assess the potential of ready-made (spherical) spectacles (RMS) in meeting the need for refractive correction in visually impaired children in China. METHODS: Eligible children aged 5-17 years were identified from the three study sites in China. Distance visual acuity was measured with a retroilluminated logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution chart with tumbling E optotypes. Cycloplegic autorefraction was performed on all children using a handheld autorefractor. If uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) was <=20/40 in either eye, best corrected visual acuity was measured with subjective refractive error. RESULTS\&nbsp;: A total of 13 702 children were enumerated from the three studies, with 12 334 (90.0\%) having both reliable visual acuity measurements and successful cycloplegia. Among the 12 334 study children, the prevalence of UCVA <=20/40 in the better seeing eye was 16.4\% (95\% CI 15.0\% to 17.8\%), with 91.1\% (1843) of these improving by >=3 lines of visual acuity with refractive correction. Prevalence was 12.7\% (95\% CI 11.5\% to 13.9\%) for UCVA 20/50 with 97.4\% (1521) improving by >=3 lines, and 9.38\% (95\% CI 8.39\% to 19.4\%) for UCVA <=20/63 with 98.4\% (1138) improving by >=3 lines. Depending on the severity of visual impairment, 62.8\%-64.0\% of children could be accommodated with RMS if not correcting for astigmatism of <=0.75 dioptres and anisometropia of <=0.50 spherical equivalent dioptres. Approximately 87\% of children could be accommodated with RMS if astigmatism and anisometropia limits were increased to <=1.25 and <=1.50 dioptres, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: RMS could substantially alleviate visual morbidity in two-thirds or more of visually impaired schoolchildren in China. This cost-effective approach to refractive correction might also be useful in low/middle-income countries with poor access to optometric services.},
	issn = {1468-2079},
	doi = {10.1136/bjophthalmol-2018-312262},
	author = {Zhu, Zhuoting and Ellwein, Leon B and Wang, Sean K and Zhao, Jialiang and He, Mingguang}
}
