Community Ophthalmology, Dr R P Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi, India.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2022 Jan;70(1):36-42. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1020_21.
Community volunteers like Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) could be utilized for linking community and eye care services. Research is needed to effectively utilize them. This study was to assess whether ASHAs could imbibe new knowledge in eye care and conduct vision screening.
Settings and Design: A pre-post-intervention study in South Delhi Integrated Vision Centres. It was conducted from January 2016 to March 2017. One day of conceptual training followed by hands-on training in vision screening was imparted to ASHAs. The knowledge was assessed thrice: before, immediately after, and following 1 year after training. The vision screening skill was assessed twice. Descriptive analysis using percentages, mean and standard deviations. Paired t-test was used for assessing the change in scores.
A total of 102 ASHAs were recruited. A significant increase in the knowledge score of ASHAs before (14.96) and after training (25.38) (P < 0.001) was noted. The knowledge score was sustained at 1 year (21.75). The satisfactory skill of vision screening was seen in 88 (86.3%) ASHAs after training, while 79 (77.5%) ASHAs still retained it after 1 year.
The potential to involve ASHAs in community-based frontline eye care activities: awareness generation of eye diseases, identification of referrable conditions, and facilitating individuals to seek eye care facilities. This study informs about the duration, frequency, and content of the training. It also provides evidence on the improvement and sustainability of eye care knowledge and skills by ASHAs after conceptual and hands-on training.
社区志愿者（如认证社会卫生活动家）可用于联系社区和眼科服务。需要研究如何有效地利用他们。本研究旨在评估 ASHA 是否能够掌握眼科新知识并进行视力筛查。
设计：南德里综合视觉中心的干预前后研究。它于 2016 年 1 月至 2017 年 3 月进行。对 ASHA 进行了为期一天的概念培训，随后进行了视力筛查的实践培训。在培训前、培训后和培训后 1 年进行了三次知识评估。对视力筛查技能进行了两次评估。使用百分比、平均值和标准差进行描述性分析。使用配对 t 检验评估分数的变化。
共招募了 102 名 ASHA。ASHA 的知识得分在培训前（14.96）和培训后（25.38）均有显著增加（P < 0.001）。1 年后知识得分仍保持在 21.75。培训后，88 名（86.3%）ASHA 具有令人满意的视力筛查技能，而 79 名（77.5%）ASHA 仍在 1 年后保持该技能。
ASHA 有潜力参与社区基层眼科保健活动：提高眼病意识、识别可转诊情况，并促进个人寻求眼科保健设施。本研究提供了关于培训的持续时间、频率和内容的信息。它还提供了 ASHA 在概念和实践培训后提高和保持眼科知识和技能的证据。
