School-based vision screening in Quetta, Pakistan: a qualitative study of experiences of teachers and eye care providers

BACKGROUND: Visual impairment in children is a significant public health problem affecting millions of children globally. Many eye problems experienced by children can be easily diagnosed and treated. We conducted a qualitative study with teachers and optometrists involved in a school-based vision screening programme in Quetta district of Pakistan to explore their experiences of training, vision screening and referrals and to identify factors impacting on the effectiveness of the programme. METHODS: Between April 2018 and June 2018, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 14 teachers from eight purposefully selected schools with high rates of inaccurate (false positive) referrals. Interviews were also conducted with three optometrists from a not-for profit private eye care hospital that had trained the teachers. Interviews were audio recorded and professionally transcribed. NVIVO software version 12 was used to code and thematically analyze the data. RESULTS: Findings suggest that the importance of school-based vision screening was well understood and appreciated by the teachers and optometrists. Most participants felt that there was a strong level of support for the vision screening programme within the participating schools. However, there were a number of operational issues undermining the quality of screening. Eight teachers felt that the duration of the training was insufficient; the training was rushed; six teachers said that the procedures were not sufficiently explained, and the teachers had no time to practice. The screening protocol was not always followed by the teachers. Additionally, many teachers reported being overburdened with other work, which affected both their levels of participation in the training and the time they spent on the screening. CONCLUSIONS: School-based vision screening by teachers is a cost-effective strategy to detect and treat children’s vision impairment early on. In the programme reviewed here however, a significant number of teachers over referred children to ophthalmic services, overwhelming their capacity and undermining the efficiency of the approach. To maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of school-based screening, future initiatives should give sufficient attention to the duration of the teacher training, experience of trainers, support supervision, refresher trainings, regular use of the screening guidelines, and the workload and motivation of those trained. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-10404-9.