{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]],"date-time":"2026-07-10T04:50:03Z","timestamp":1783659003250,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]],"date-time":"2024-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725926400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002992","name":"Department for International Development","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["205210-265"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["205210-265"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002992","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosglobalpublichealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Glob Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Eye health and disability are both common among older people, and it is important to understand how disability relates to visual health status and access to services. While people with disabilities face barriers to accessing health services, few studies have measured participants\u2019 functional status in domains other than vision and little evidence exists on how disability impacts eye health services access. This paper describes how visual impairment and access to eye health services differ between people aged 50 years and above with and without disability in Karamoja, Uganda, and explores the factors driving that difference. This was a cross-sectional survey among individuals aged 50 years and above. A standardised eye health survey was conducted, with additional questions on personal and health characteristics. Ophthalmologists conducted a vision examination, and recorded participants\u2019 self-reported functional difficulties using the Washington Group Short Set Enhanced. Descriptive analyses were conducted using Stata, and multivariate models constructed to explore relationships. 21.7% of respondents self-reported some sort of functional difficulty. Twenty-five percent of individuals with a non-visual functional difficulty are also blind, and a further 29% experience a lower level of VI. In a multivariate model, blindness was associated with self-reported difficulties seeing, but not any other type of difficulty. Blindness was also associated with age, not being married, and living in a smaller household. Access to cataract surgery was associated with non-visual functional difficulties, male gender, and having a regular household income. This study confirms that in the study area, disability and visual impairment are common among people aged 50 years and above, access to eye health services is low, and self-reported functional difficulties are not associated with lower access to services.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgph.0003645","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]],"date-time":"2024-09-10T17:25:42Z","timestamp":1725989142000},"page":"e0003645","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Differences in need for and access to eye health services between older people with and without disability: A cross-sectional survey in four districts of northern Uganda"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2388-3454","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Emma","family":"Jolley","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Calum","family":"Davey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1125-9993","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Stevens","family":"Bechange","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2133-722X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gladys","family":"Atto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Denis","family":"Erima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ambrose","family":"Otim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Juliet","family":"Sentongo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anthony","family":"Wani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tesfaye","family":"Adera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moses","family":"Kasadhakawo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hannah","family":"Kuper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"pgph.0003645.ref001","volume-title":"Africa Aging: 2020","author":"W He","year":"2020"},{"issue":"9967","key":"pgph.0003645.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"549","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(14)61347-7","article-title":"The burden of disease in older people and implications for health policy and practice","volume":"385","author":"M Prince","year":"2015","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"issue":"9967","key":"pgph.0003645.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"563","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(14)61462-8","article-title":"Health, functioning, and disability in older adults\u2014present status and future implications","volume":"385","author":"S Chatterji","year":"2015","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"issue":"9968","key":"pgph.0003645.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e9","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(14)61602-0","article-title":"Older people\u2019s health in sub-Saharan Africa","volume":"385","author":"I Aboderin","year":"2015","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"key":"pgph.0003645.ref005","volume-title":"World report on ageing and health","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2015"},{"key":"pgph.0003645.ref006","volume-title":"Global report on health equity for persons with disabilities","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2022"},{"key":"pgph.0003645.ref007","author":"H Kuper","year":"2019","journal-title":"The Missing Billion: Access to Health Services for 1 Billion People with Disabilities"},{"key":"pgph.0003645.ref008","unstructured":"Uganda Bureau of Statistics. 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