{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T17:20:07Z","timestamp":1788542407566,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Purpose:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To assess the prevalence and distribution of refractive errors in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A retrospective hospital-based study was conducted at Madang Provincial Hospital Eye Clinic. It is a free eye clinic and spectacle costs are further subsidized by a nongovernmental organization. Nonprobability purposive sampling was used to retrieve patients' records at the eye clinic from January to December 2016. Only demographic and clinic data on the patients' first visit to the eye clinic were recorded and these included their age, gender, location, presenting visual acuity (VA), and refractive correction.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      One thousand and one hundred eighty-four patients' records were retrieved, of which 622 (52.53%) had refractive error. The mean age of refractive error presentation was 49.68 \u00b1 16.29 years with a range of 9\u201386 years. There were more males (55%) than females. About a quarter of the patients (21.2%) presented with moderate visual impairment. There was a statistically significant relationship between visual impairment and age group (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                      &lt; 0.001). Myopia (53.1%) was the most common type of refractive error followed by hyperopia (32.5%) and astigmatism (14.4%). The uptake of spectacle correction was very high (95.3%) among the patients. More than one-tenth of the patients (12.5%) reported from other provinces. Almost one-third of the patients (31.4%) could not obtain a VA of 6\/6 after refraction. About one-fifth (17.0%) of the patients were suspected of functional amblyopia.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is a significant cause of visual impairment in PNG. There is a need for the integration of eye care services into primary health care for early detection, treatment, and prevention of visual impairment caused by UREs.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.4103\/joco.joco_337_21","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,26]],"date-time":"2022-07-26T14:51:26Z","timestamp":1658847086000},"page":"223-228","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Prevalence and Distribution of Refractive Errors Among Ophthalmic Patients in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea"],"prefix":"10.4103","volume":"34","author":[{"given":"Bismark","family":"Owusu-Afriyie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moses","family":"Kombra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Theresa","family":"Gende","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Kia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isabella","family":"Mou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"276","reference":[{"key":"R1-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"338","DOI":"10.1136\/bjophthalmol-2017-311802","article-title":"Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness in Papua New Guinea: A nationwide survey","volume":"103","author":"Lee","year":"2019","journal-title":"Br J Ophthalmol"},{"key":"R2-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"728","DOI":"10.4102\/phcfm.v7i1.728","article-title":"Prevalence and causes of visual impairment in patients seen at Nkhensani hospital eye clinic, South Africa","volume":"7","author":"Maake","year":"2015","journal-title":"Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med"},{"key":"R3-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"402","DOI":"10.4103\/JOCO.JOCO_224_20","article-title":"Prevalence of refractive error and visual impairment among rural dwellers in Mashonaland central province, Zimbabwe","volume":"32","author":"Tagoh","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Curr Ophthalmol"},{"key":"R5-13-20240910","first-page":"405","article-title":"Self-adjustable glasses in the developing world","volume":"8","author":"Gudlavalleti","year":"2014","journal-title":"Clin Ophthalmol"},{"key":"R6-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"731","DOI":"10.1001\/jamaophthalmol.2018.1329","article-title":"Effect of a local vision care center on eyeglasses use and school performance in rural China: A cluster randomized clinical trial","volume":"136","author":"Ma","year":"2018","journal-title":"JAMA Ophthalmol"},{"key":"R7-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5740","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.g5740","article-title":"Effect of providing free glasses on children's educational outcomes in China: Cluster randomized controlled trial","volume":"349","author":"Ma","year":"2014","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"R8-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"88306","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0088306","article-title":"Visual difficulty and employment status in the world","volume":"9","author":"Harrabi","year":"2014","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"R10-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1097\/OPX.0000000000000796","article-title":"Global vision impairment and blindness due to uncorrected refractive Error, 1990-2010","volume":"93","author":"Naidoo","year":"2016","journal-title":"Optom Vis Sci"},{"key":"R11-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"614","DOI":"10.1136\/bjophthalmol-2011-300539","article-title":"Global estimates of visual impairment: 2010","volume":"96","author":"Pascolini","year":"2012","journal-title":"Br J Ophthalmol"},{"key":"R12-13-20240910","first-page":"54","article-title":"Eye nurse training in the pacific Islands","volume":"33","author":"Baral","year":"2020","journal-title":"Community Eye Health"},{"key":"R13-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1442-9071.2006.01219.x","article-title":"Blindness and vision impairment in the elderly of Papua New Guinea","volume":"34","author":"Garap","year":"2006","journal-title":"Clin Exp Ophthalmol"},{"key":"R14-13-20240910","first-page":"114","article-title":"Pattern and prevalence of refractive error and secondary visual impairment in patients attending a tertiary hospital in Dhulikhel, Nepal","volume":"16","author":"Kaiti","year":"2018","journal-title":"Kathmandu Univ Med J (KUMJ"},{"key":"R15-13-20240910","first-page":"10","article-title":"Refractive error pattern of children in South-South Nigeria: A tertiary hospital study","volume":"1","author":"Opubiri","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sky J Med Med Sci"},{"key":"R16-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"408","DOI":"10.4103\/2008-322X.176909","article-title":"Prevalence of amblyopia and refractive errors among primary school children","volume":"10","author":"Rajavi","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Ophthalmic Vis Res"},{"key":"R18-13-20240910","first-page":"9","article-title":"The challenge of providing spectacles in the developing world","volume":"13","author":"Holden","year":"2000","journal-title":"Community Eye Health"},{"key":"R19-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5449","DOI":"10.1167\/iovs.10-6770","article-title":"Refractive error in Nigerian adults: Prevalence, type, and spectacle coverage","volume":"52","author":"Ezelum","year":"2011","journal-title":"Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci"},{"key":"R20-13-20240910","first-page":"1849","article-title":"Poverty and Eye Health","volume":"6","author":"Jaggernath","year":"2014","journal-title":"Health (Irvine Calif"},{"key":"R21-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106","DOI":"10.4103\/1119-3077.122863","article-title":"Refractive errors in patients attending a private hospital in Jos, Nigeria","volume":"17","author":"Malu","year":"2014","journal-title":"Niger J Clin Pract"},{"key":"R22-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"543","DOI":"10.4103\/2249-4863.222023","article-title":"Refractive errors among patients attending the ophthalmology department of a medical college in North-East India","volume":"6","author":"Natung","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Family Med Prim Care"},{"key":"R23-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116","DOI":"10.4103\/1117-1936.181025","article-title":"Refractive errors in Mercyland specialist hospital, Osogbo, Western Nigeria","volume":"15","author":"Adeoti","year":"2008","journal-title":"Niger Postgrad Med J"},{"key":"R24-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.4103\/0189-9171.170965","article-title":"Pattern of refractive errors among ophthalmic outpatients of university of Uyo teaching hospital, Uyo, Nigeria","volume":"23","author":"Abraham","year":"2015","journal-title":"Niger J Ophthalmol"},{"key":"R25-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"248","DOI":"10.5958\/2395-1451.2016.00053.6","article-title":"Pattern of refractive errors among the patients presenting to eye department of district hospital of Uttarakhand","volume":"2","author":"Bhardwaj","year":"2016","journal-title":"Indian J Clin Exp Ophthalmol"},{"key":"R26-13-20240910","first-page":"73","article-title":"Prevalence of myopia amongst patients with refractive error in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana","volume":"33","author":"Koomson","year":"2013","journal-title":"J Sci Technol"},{"key":"R27-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"202","DOI":"10.1038\/eye.2013.280","article-title":"Epidemiology of myopia","volume":"28","author":"Foster","year":"2014","journal-title":"Eye (Lond"},{"key":"R28-13-20240910","first-page":"562","article-title":"Age related visual impairment in the elderly","volume":"59","author":"Loh","year":"2004","journal-title":"Med J Malaysia"},{"key":"R29-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"281","DOI":"10.1007\/BF03324611","article-title":"The impact of visual impairment on health, function and mortality","volume":"17","author":"Jacobs","year":"2005","journal-title":"Aging Clin Exp Res"},{"key":"R30-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1186\/s12916-014-0181-7","article-title":"Visual impairment is associated with physical and mental comorbidities in older adults: A cross-sectional study","volume":"12","author":"Court","year":"2014","journal-title":"BMC Med"},{"key":"R31-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0244997","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0244997","article-title":"Effects of visual impairment on mobility functions in elderly: Results of Fujiwara-Kyo Eye Study","volume":"16","author":"Miyata","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"R33-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1451","DOI":"10.1001\/archophthalmol.2011.179","article-title":"Effect of age on response to amblyopia treatment in children","volume":"129","author":"Holmes","year":"2011","journal-title":"Arch Ophthalmol"},{"key":"R34-13-20240910","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E015","DOI":"10.1017\/S0952523817000220","article-title":"Treatment of amblyopia as a function of age","volume":"35","author":"Holmes","year":"2018","journal-title":"Vis Neurosci"}],"container-title":["Journal of Current Ophthalmology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ovid.com\/10.4103\/joco.joco_337_21","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T15:06:23Z","timestamp":1787756783000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ovid.com\/10.4103\/joco.joco_337_21"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,4]]},"references-count":30,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4103\/joco.joco_337_21","relation":{},"ISSN":["2452-2325"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2452-2325","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,4]]}}}