Scientific correspondence
The use of a newspaper insertion to promote DIY testing of vision
in India
G V S Murthy, Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, Vijay Kumar Dada, Tara Dutt Pant, Chibber Savita, Lalit Sanga, John Neena
Dr Rajendra Prasad
Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute for Medical
Sciences, New Delhi, India
Correspondence to: Dr G V S Murthy, Associate Professor, Community Ophthalmology Section, Dr RP Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, AIIMS, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India 110029 comoph{at}ndf.vsnl.net.in
Accepted for publication 14 February 2001
BACKGROUND
The mass
media have the potential to motivate people to participate in self
appraisal of their own health status. An innovative communication
package was designed to help people to examine vision at home. The
impact of publishing the "do it yourself" (DIY) kit in Indian
newspapers was evaluated.
METHODSA pretested
bilingual vision testing kit was published in three newspapers. The kit
comprised four tumbling Es corresponding to 6/12 line of Snellen's
optotypes. Directions on using the kit were enclosed. 3 -7 days after
publication of the kit, a telephone survey of newspaper readers was
undertaken to evaluate the impact and cost effectiveness.
RESULTS603 people
were contacted over the telephone. 125 (20.73%) subscribed to the
newspaper carrying the DIY insertion. 43.2% (54) noticed the insertion
of which 88.89% (48) read the enclosed instructions carefully. 58.33%
respondents felt sufficiently motivated to contact an ophthalmologist.
Graduates had a 3.83 times higher probability of reading the
communication insertion compared with others. Differences in relation
to other demographic variables were not statistically significant.
CONCLUSIONSNewspapers
are an excellent medium for communicating self appraisal kits for
vision testing. The medium is cost effective and has significant reach
in the urban agglomerates of India.
© 2001 by British Journal of Ophthalmology
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