IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i12p6302-d572631.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Estimating Need for Glasses and Hearing Aids in The Gambia: Results from a National Survey and Comparison of Clinical Impairment and Self-Report Assessment Approaches

Author

Listed:
  • Dorothy Boggs

    (International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

  • Abba Hydara

    (Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre, Kanifing, The Gambia)

  • Yaka Faal

    (Ear Nose and Throat Unit, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Banjul, The Gambia)

  • John Atta Okoh

    (Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre, Kanifing, The Gambia)

  • Segun Isaac Olaniyan

    (Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre, Kanifing, The Gambia)

  • Haruna Sanneh

    (Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre, Kanifing, The Gambia)

  • Abdoulie Ngett

    (Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre, Kanifing, The Gambia)

  • Isatou Bah

    (Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre, Kanifing, The Gambia)

  • Mildred Aleser

    (Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre, Kanifing, The Gambia)

  • Erima Denis

    (Lubaga Hospital, Kampala, Uganda)

  • Ian McCormick

    (International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

  • Tess Bright

    (International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

  • Suzannah Bell

    (International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

  • Minjung Kim

    (International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

  • Allen Foster

    (International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

  • Hannah Kuper

    (International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

  • Matthew J. Burton

    (International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
    National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London EC1V 9EL, UK)

  • Islay Mactaggart

    (International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
    International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

  • Sarah Polack

    (International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

Abstract

Few estimates are available of the need for assistive devices (ADs) in African settings. This study aimed to estimate population-level need for glasses and hearing aids in The Gambia based on (1) clinical impairment assessment, and (2) self-reported AD awareness, and explore the relationship between the two methods. The Gambia 2019 National Eye Health Survey is a nationally representative population-based sample of 9188 adults aged 35+ years. Participants underwent standardised clinical vision assessments including the need for glasses (distance and near). Approximately 25% of the sample underwent clinical assessment of hearing and hearing aid need. Data were also collected on self-reported awareness, need and access barriers to vision and hearing ADs. Overall, 5.6% of the study population needed distance glasses (95% CI 5.0–6.3), 45.9% (95% CI 44.2–47.5) needed near glasses and 25.5% (95% CI 22.2–29.2) needed hearing aids. Coverage for each AD was very low (<4%). The agreement between self-report and clinical impairment assessment for AD need was poor. In conclusion, there is high prevalence and very low coverage for distance glasses, near glasses and hearing aids in The Gambia. Self-report measures alone will not provide an accurate estimate of AD need.

Suggested Citation

  • Dorothy Boggs & Abba Hydara & Yaka Faal & John Atta Okoh & Segun Isaac Olaniyan & Haruna Sanneh & Abdoulie Ngett & Isatou Bah & Mildred Aleser & Erima Denis & Ian McCormick & Tess Bright & Suzannah Be, 2021. "Estimating Need for Glasses and Hearing Aids in The Gambia: Results from a National Survey and Comparison of Clinical Impairment and Self-Report Assessment Approaches," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:12:p:6302-:d:572631
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6302/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6302/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wesley Pryor & Liem Nguyen & Qumrun Naher Islam & Faruk Ahmed Jalal & Manjula Marella, 2018. "Unmet Needs and Use of Assistive Products in Two Districts of Bangladesh: Findings from a Household Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Tess Bright & Islay Mactaggart & Min Kim & Jennifer Yip & Hannah Kuper & Sarah Polack, 2019. "Rationale for a Rapid Methodology to Assess the Prevalence of Hearing Loss in Population-Based Surveys," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-16, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dorothy Boggs & Hannah Kuper & Islay Mactaggart & Tess Bright & GVS Murthy & Abba Hydara & Ian McCormick & Natalia Tamblay & Matias L. Alvarez & Oluwarantimi Atijosan-Ayodele & Hisem Yonso & Allen Fos, 2022. "Exploring the Use of Washington Group Questions to Identify People with Clinical Impairments Who Need Services including Assistive Products: Results from Five Population-Based Surveys," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-17, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Young Suk Yoon & Boyoung Jung & Dongsu Kim & In-Hyuk Ha, 2019. "Factors Underlying Unmet Medical Needs: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Qhayiya Magaqa & Proochista Ariana & Sarah Polack, 2021. "Examining the Availability and Accessibility of Rehabilitation Services in a Rural District of South Africa: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-16, April.
    3. Ruth Sanders & Ben Gascoyne & Paul Appleby & Syeda Asma Rashida & Emma Jolley, 2021. "Eye Health Service Uptake among People with Visual Impairment and Other Functional Difficulties in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study with Short-Term Follow Up," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-12, August.
    4. Wei Zhang & Arne H. Eide & Wesley Pryor & Chapal Khasnabis & Johan Borg, 2021. "Measuring Self-Reported Access to Assistive Technology Using the WHO Rapid Assistive Technology Assessment (rATA) Questionnaire: Protocol for a Multi-Country Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Dorothy Boggs & Hannah Kuper & Islay Mactaggart & Tess Bright & GVS Murthy & Abba Hydara & Ian McCormick & Natalia Tamblay & Matias L. Alvarez & Oluwarantimi Atijosan-Ayodele & Hisem Yonso & Allen Fos, 2022. "Exploring the Use of Washington Group Questions to Identify People with Clinical Impairments Who Need Services including Assistive Products: Results from Five Population-Based Surveys," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Manjula Marella & Donna Koolmees & Chandalin Vongvilay & Bernard Frank & Wesley Pryor & Fleur Smith, 2021. "Development of a Digital Case Management Tool for Community Based Inclusive Development Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-17, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:12:p:6302-:d:572631. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.