Regular provision of outreach increases acceptance of cataract surgery in South India

• Published in: Tropical medicine & international health 2011-10, Vol.16 (10), p.1268-1275
• Main Authors: Finger, Robert P., Kupitz, David G., Holz, Frank G., Chandrasekhar, Seetha, Balasubramaniam, Bharath, Ramani, Ramanathan V., Gilbert, Clare E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceptance; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; barreras percibidas por el paciente; Biological and medical sciences; Blindness - epidemiology; Blindness - etiology; Blindness - prevention & control; Cataract - epidemiology; Cataract Extraction - statistics & numerical data; Cataract Extraction - trends; cataract surgery; Cataracts; chirurgie de la cataracte; cirugía de cataratas; Community-Institutional Relations - standards; Community-Institutional Relations - trends; cribaje de extensión clínica; Eye surgery; Family; Female; General aspects; Health education; Health Services Accessibility; healthcare systems research; Humans; Inde; India; India - epidemiology; Investigación en sistemas sanitarios; Lens diseases; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; obstacle perçu par le patient; Ophthalmology; outreach screening; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; patient‐perceived barrier; Prevalence; recherche sur les systèmes de santé; Rural Population - statistics & numerical data; sensibilisation au dépistage; Social Support; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vision, Low - epidemiology; Vision, Low - etiology; Vision, Low - prevention & control
• ISSN: 1360-2276; 1365-3156
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2011.02835.x

Summary Objectives  The prevalence of visual loss and blindness from cataract remains high in India. Marginalized communities are frequently reached through outreach clinics. The aim of this study was to explore the hypothesis that regular outreach, held in the same location by the same provider, leads to greater acceptance of cataract surgery than outreach clinics that are irregular in terms of timing and location. Methods  The study was integrated into outreach clinics run in two districts by Sankara Eye Centre, Coimbatore, Southern India. A semi‐structured questionnaire was administered to patients who had attended outreach eye clinics and either accepted or not accepted the offer of cataract surgery. Results  Overall acceptance of surgery was high (91.7%), being higher in the district with regular outreach (94.6%vs. 82.3%, P