Trial reportThe Lancet. Digital health2021
Effectiveness of an mHealth system on access to eye health services in Kenya: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in The Lancet. Digital health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of smartphone technology for detection of paediatric ocular diseases-a systematic review.BMC ophthalmology · 2025Pooled it
- Current Status of Barriers to mHealth Access Among Patients With Stroke and Steps Toward the Digital Health Era: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- Preliminary effectiveness of musical messaging to improve child eye health service uptake in Zanzibar: a pilot randomised trial.BMJ open · 2025Trial
- Discordance between measured and perceived vision in older adults: the need for objective screening despite health consciousness.npj aging · 2026Article
- Assessment of organizational readiness for integrating primary eye care into primary healthcare: a mixed-method pre-implementation study in rural Xinjiang.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Exploring promising biomarkers based on pathogenic mechanisms in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome.Nature reviews. Urology · 2026Review
- Reducing Primary Healthcare Bypass Behaviour: A Discrete Choice Experiment Study Exploring the Preferences for Primary Eye Care Services in Rural Xinjiang.The patient · 2026Article
- Prevalence and outcomes of intrinsic capacity impairments assessed using the WHO Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) framework in The Gambia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe: a cross-sectional study.The Lancet. Global health · 2026Article
- Implementation outcomes of a school-based visual screening program using the peek tool in low-resource settings in Pakistan.BMC public health · 2025Observational
- Application of mobile health (mHealth) in the field of eye care: A scoping review of interventions used by individuals and health services to communicate.AJO international · 2025Article
- Article
- Development and performance evaluation of a Bengali-adapted mHealth app for early detection of impaired visual acuity.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Access to community-based eye services in Meru, Kenya: a cross-sectional equity analysis.International journal for equity in health · 2024Article
- [Global ophthalmology : Update].Die Ophthalmologie · 2024Article
- Digital Medical Information Services Delivered by Pharmaceutical Companies via WeChat: Qualitative Analytical Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Improvement studies for equitable and evidence-based innovation: an overview of the 'IM-SEEN' model.International journal for equity in health · 2023Article
- The Accuracy of a Web-Based Visual Acuity Self-assessment Tool Performed Independently by Eye Care Patients at Home: Method Comparison Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Big data in corneal diseases and cataract: Current applications and future directions.Frontiers in big data · 2023Review
- Integrated people-centered eye care: A scoping review on engaging communities in eye care in low- and middle-income settings.PloS one · 2023Article
- Community-based adult hearing care provided by community healthcare workers using mHealth technologies.Global health action · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is limited access to eye health services in many low-income and middle-income populations. We aimed to assess the effectiveness in increasing service utilisation of the Peek Community Eye Health (Peek CEH) system, a smartphone-based referral system comprising decision support algorithms (Peek Community Screening app), SMS reminders, and real-time reporting.
methodsIn this cluster-randomised controlled trial of eye health in Kenya, community unit clusters were defined as one health centre and its catchment population. Clusters were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive Peek CEH and referral (intervention group) or standard care via periodic health centre-based outreach clinics and onward referral (control group). Individuals in the intervention group were assessed at home by screeners and those referred were asked to present for triage assessment in a central location. They received regular SMS reminders. In both groups, community sensitisation was done followed by a triage clinic at the cluster health centre 4 weeks after sensitisation. During triage, individuals in both groups were assessed and treated and, if necessary, referred to a specific hospital. Individuals in the intervention group received further SMS reminders. The primary outcome was the mean attendance rate (the number of people per 10 000 population) at triage of those with confirmed eye conditions, as assessed at 4 weeks after sensitisation in the intention-to-treat population. We estimated the intervention effect using a Student's t-test on cluster-level rates. This trial is registered with Pan African Clinical Trial Registry, number 201807329096632.
findingsBetween Nov 26, 2018, and June 7, 2019, of the 85 community units in Trans Nzoia County, Kenya, 49 were excluded. We randomly allocated 18 community units each to the intervention group (68 348 individuals) and the control group (60 243 individuals). 9387 individuals from the intervention group and 3070 from the control group attended triage assessment. The mean attendance rate at triage by individuals with eye problems was 1429 (92% CI 1228-1629) in the intervention group and 522 (418-625) in the control group (rate difference 906 per 10 000 [95% CI 689-1124; p<0·0001]).
interpretationThe Peek CEH system increased primary care attendance by people with eye problems compared with standard approaches, indicating the potential of this mobile health package to increase service uptake and guide appropriate task sharing.
fundingThe Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and Wellcome Trust.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.