Recent publications by SoVS staff include:
Which low-dose atropine for myopia control?
Clinical and Experimental Optometry
Safal Khanal and John R Phillips
Low-dose atropine eye drops, in concentration from 0.01 to 0.05%, are now widely used for treating myopia (short-sight) in children. However, controversy remains regarding the optimal concentration of low-dose atropine for clinical application. This view-point article reviews the myopia control efficacy of low-dose atropine (based on the findings from clinical trials to date) and provides an evidence-based perspective on the optimal concentration to be used in clinical practice in order to reduce the risks of myopia-related ocular pathologies later in life.
Click here to read the paper.
Evaluation of vision screening of 5–15‐year‐old children in three Tongan schools: comparison of The Auckland Optotypes and Lea symbols
Clinical and Experimental Optometry
Lisa M Hamm, Fiona Langridge, Joanna M Black, Nicola S Anstice, Mele Vuki, Toakase Fakakovikaetau, Cameron C Grant, & Steven C Dakin
We worked with a team in Tonga, and researchers within Pacific Health and Paediatrics, to investigate health among Tongan school children. This paper explores the vision component of this health assessment, as well as exploring what screening tests may be useful in this environment.
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Effect of virtual reality headset wear on the tear film: A randomised crossover study.
Contactlens & Anterior Eye
Phillip R.K. Turnbull, Joyce Wong, Jasmine Feng, Michael T.M. Wang, Jennifer P. Craig
This study was conducted by two of our optometry students, Joyce Wong and Jasmine Feng,as a summer research project. Using a computer is notorious for causing dry eyes, and this is becoming a bigger issue as more people are required to use computers as part of their job. In our study we found that recreating a desktop computer in virtual reailty can improve the quality of the tear film, likely due to the microenvironment it creates around the eyes. Therefore, working in virtual reailty may be an option for dry eye sufferers who need to use a computer as part of their job.
Click here to read the paper.
The inverse research law of eye health
Eye
John C Buchan, William H Dean, Jacqueline Ramke, Matthew J Burton
This letter highlights the global disparity between the magnitude of the major causes of blindness and the amount of recent research addressing these. This “inverse-research law” in global eye health research is analogous to the inverse-care law, which highlights the well-established observation that those with the greatest health needs often have the least access to services.
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Announcing The Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health
Lancet Global Health
Matthew J Burton, Hannah B Faal, Jacqueline Ramke, Thulasiraj Ravilla, Peter Holland, Ningli Wang, Sheila K West, Rupert R A Bourne, Nathan G Congdon, Allen Foster
This comment announces the ongoing Commission on Global Eye Health that will be launched at the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness General Assembly in October 2020. In addition to outlining why the Commission is needed, the main components of the work are outlined.
Click here to read the paper.
Cataract services are leaving widows behind: examples from national cross-sectional surveys in Nigeria and Sri Lanka.
Int J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019
Jacqueline Ramke, Fatima Kyari, Nyawira Mwangi, MMNP Piyasena, GVS Murthy, Clare E Gilbert.
The Sustainable Development Goals aim to leave no one behind. In this paper we used national surveys in Nigeria and Sri Lanka to explore the hypothesis that women without a living spouse—including those who are widowed, divorced, separated, and never married—are a vulnerable group being left behind by cataract services.
Click here to read the paper.