Seeing to Learn in Sierra Leone

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · Sep 29, 2023

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The "Seeing to Learn in Sierra Leone" trial is studying how providing free eyeglasses can help students aged 12-15 years who have trouble seeing clearly due to uncorrected vision problems, also known as refractive errors. The goal is to find out if giving these students glasses improves their education and learning outcomes. To participate, students need to have vision that is not as good as 6/12 in their better eye and certain levels of refractive errors, but they should be able to see better than 6/7.5 with the right glasses.

If eligible, students will take part in some questionnaires and educational assessments at the beginning of the school year, which will take about 1-2 hours. After that, they will receive free eyeglasses to help them see better. At the end of the school year, the same assessments and questionnaires will be given again to see how their learning has changed. This study is important because it aims to show how improving vision can lead to better educational experiences for students in Sierra Leone.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Presenting (with or without glasses) distance visual acuity of 6/12 or worse in the better-seeing eye;
• • 2. Refractive error of at least 0.75 diopters (D) of myopia, 2.00 D of hyperopia or 1.00 D of astigmatism;
• • 3. Visual acuity is correctable to 6/7.5 or better with eyeglasses.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Other ocular problems preventing visual acuity \> 6/12 in both eyes.