The effectiveness of optometric aid to Fiji, South Pacific

Abstract

During 1983, a volunteer vision care delivery team provided glasses to a population of rural Fijians. To determine the fate of these glasses, an 8-month follow-up study was conducted on a random sample of 80 Fijians. Of the 40 who received lenses for full-time wear, 28% had discontinued lens use and 35% wore their lenses for reading only. Of the 40 who received lenses for reading only, 25% had discontinued use. A significant proportion of the discontinued lenses had low plus powers and/or were dispensed to non-presbyopic Fijians on the basis of asthenopic complaints.