Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34922555›Full record

ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2021

Implementation of paediatric vision screening in urban and rural areas in Cluj County, Romania.

Jan Kik, Mandy Nordmann, Simona Cainap, Mihai Mara, Daniela Rajka, Monica Ghițiu, Alin Vladescu, Frea Sloot, Anna Horwood, Maria Fronius and 2 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal for equity in health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 15% 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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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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

12 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Jan KikDepartment of Ophthalmology, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4811-8038
Mandy NordmannDepartment of Ophthalmology, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Simona CainapUniversity of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Mihai MaraUniversity of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Daniela RajkaUniversity of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Monica GhițiuDepartment of Social and Medical Assistance, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Alin VladescuDepartment of Social and Medical Assistance, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Frea SlootDepartment of Ophthalmology, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Anna HorwoodSchool of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
Maria FroniusDepartment of Ophthalmology, Child Vision Research Unit, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Cristina VladutiuUniversity of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Huibert Jan SimonszDepartment of Ophthalmology, Erasmus University Medical Center, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. simonsz@compuserve.com.ORCID 0000-0001-5899-6654
Erasmus MC · NLGoethe University Frankfurt · DEUniversity of Reading · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn 2018 and 2019, paediatric vision screening was implemented in Cluj County, Romania, where universal paediatric vision screening does not yet exist. We report on the preparation and the first year of implementation.

methodsObjectives, target population and screening protocol were defined. In cities, children were screened by kindergarten nurses. In rural areas, kindergartens have no nurses and children were screened by family doctors' nurses, initially at the doctors' offices, later also in rural kindergartens. CME-accredited training courses and treatment pathways were organised. Implementation was assessed through on-site observations, interviews, questionnaires and analysis of screening results of referred children.

resultsOut of 12,795 eligible four- and five-year-old children, 7,876 were screened in 2018. In the cities, kindergarten nurses screened most children without difficulties. In Cluj-Napoca 1.62x the average annual birth rate was screened and in the small cities 1.64x. In the rural areas, however, nurses of family doctors screened only 0.49x the birth rate. In 51 out of 75 rural communes, no screening took place in the first year. Of 118 rural family doctors' nurses, 51 had followed the course and 26 screened children. They screened only 41 children per nurse, on average, as compared to 80 in the small cities and 100 in Cluj-Napoca. Screening at rural kindergartens met with limited success. These are attended by few children because of low population density, parents working abroad or children being kept at home in case of bad weather and road conditions.

conclusionsThree times fewer children were screened in rural areas as compared to urban areas. Kindergartens in rural areas are too small to employ nurses and family doctors' nurses do not have easy access to many children and have competing healthcare priorities: there are 1.5x as many family doctors in urban areas as compared to rural areas. For nationwide scaling-up of vision screening, nurses should be enabled to screen a sufficient number of children in rural areas.

Indexed as

Vision ScreeningChild, PreschoolCitiesHumansRomaniaRural PopulationSurveys and QuestionnairesAmblyopiaChildrenDisparityImplementation studyRuralUrbanVision screening

Identifiers

PMID34922555
PMCPMC8684067
OpenAlexW3205210639

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.