Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34748543›Full record

Observational studyPLoS neglected tropical diseases2021

Evaluation of photography using head-mounted display technology (ICAPS) for district Trachoma surveys.

Fahd Naufal, Christopher J Brady, Meraf A Wolle, Michael Saheb Kashaf, Harran Mkocha, Christopher Bradley, George Kabona, Jeremiah Ngondi, Robert W Massof, Sheila K West

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Identifying Borderline Trachoma Grades Using a Three-Latent Class Model.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Photographic grading for trachoma diagnosis within trachoma impact surveys in Amhara region, Ethiopia.Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · 2023
    Article
  9. Detection of trachoma using machine learning approaches.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022
    Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Fahd NaufalDana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0001-6106-3177
Christopher J BradyLarner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0001-7847-3914
Meraf A WolleDana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Michael Saheb KashafDana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Harran MkochaKongwa Trachoma Project, Kongwa, Tanzania.
Christopher BradleyDana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0001-7663-6759
George KabonaMinistry of Health-Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dodoma, Tanzania.ORCID 0000-0002-1030-2884
Jeremiah NgondiRTI International, Washington DC, United States of America.
Robert W MassofDana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Sheila K WestDana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children · TZRTI International · USUniversity of Vermont · US

Funding

Vermont Center on Behavior and HealthP20GM103644 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE · PI SIGMON, STACEY C · 2013 to 2022
$21.3M
NIGMS NIH HHS P20 GM103644
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAs the prevalence of trachoma declines worldwide, it is becoming increasingly expensive and challenging to standardize graders in the field for surveys to document elimination. Photography of the tarsal conjunctiva and remote interpretation may help alleviate these challenges. The purpose of this study was to develop, and field test an Image Capture and Processing System (ICAPS) to acquire hands-free images of the tarsal conjunctiva for upload to a virtual reading center for remote grading. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL

findingsThis observational study was conducted during a district-level prevalence survey for trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in Chamwino, Tanzania. The ICAPS was developed using a Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone, a Samsung Gear VR headset, a foot pedal trigger and customized software allowing for hands-free photography. After a one-day training course, three trachoma graders used the ICAPS to collect images from 1305 children ages 1-9 years, which were expert-graded remotely for comparison with field grades. In our experience, the ICAPS was successful at scanning and assigning barcodes to images, focusing on the everted eyelid with adequate examiner hand visualization, and capturing images with sufficient detail to grade TF. The percentage of children with TF by photos and by field grade was 5%. Agreement between grading of the images compared to the field grades at the child level was kappa = 0.53 (95%CI = 0.40-0.66). There were ungradable images for at least one eye in 199 children (9.1%), with more occurring in children ages 1-3 (18.5%) than older children ages 4-9 (4.2%) (χ2 = 145.3, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The prototype ICAPS device was robust, able to image 1305 children in a district level survey and transmit images from rural Tanzania to an online grading platform. More work is needed to improve the percentage of ungradable images and to better understand the causes of disagreement between field and photo grading.

Indexed as

ChildChild, PreschoolDiagnostic Techniques and ProceduresFemaleHumansInfantMalePhotographyPrevalenceRural PopulationSurveys and QuestionnairesTanzaniaTrachoma

Identifiers

PMID34748543
PMCPMC8601615
OpenAlexW3211533775

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.