Providing people with a pair of reading glasses increases the earnings of people in low-income communities by 33%, new research has found.
The study authors said the finding was significant, as no other health-related intervention has reported an effect size as large for income.
The THRIVE study1 – Tradespeople and Handworkers Rural Initiative for a Vision-enhanced Economy – was carried out across rural Bangladesh.
The results uncovered a number of benefits for first-time wearers of reading glasses across a wide variety of rural occupations.
Dr Nathan Congdon, from Queen’s University Belfast, said the findings of the THRIVE study “demonstrate the power of reading glasses in helping reduce poverty”.
“For the cost of only a few dollars a pair, reading glasses have a significant and sustained impact on an individual’s earnings and help others get back into work. Where people are vulnerable to poverty, we can have an immediate and dramatic impact on livelihoods through this extremely simple and cost-effective intervention.”
STUDY FINDINGS
The THRIVE study involved 824 people from 15 districts of Bangladesh and was conducted by VisionSpring, a social enterprise accelerating the use of eyeglasses in emerging markets; United States not-for-profit organisation BRAC; and Queen’s University Belfast.
THRIVE found that monthly median income of an individual who received reading glasses increased from US$35.3 to US$47.1 within eight months, a difference of 33.4%. The control group showed no increase.
Income increases were higher among those who were not working at the start of the study, suggesting that reading glasses helped economically inactive people return to work.
The study also found that the benefit extended to people who could not read – only 35% of participants in the study were literate. Reading glasses helped participants accomplish tasks such as threading a needle, weaving, and sorting grain.
The study revealed that new glasses wearers experienced a 16% improvement on a near vision quality of life index. The index measured factors such as people’s sense of independence and ease of doing daily tasks, such as reading a mobile phone display and seeing the food they were preparing and eating.
The trial found a substantial need for near glasses in this working population; 50% of those aged 35–65 years who had their eyes tested were identified to have presbyopia.
OUTSIZE IMPACT
“The THRIVE study reveals that the simple intervention of reading glasses yields outsized impact in terms of income,” VisionSpring CEO Ella Gudwin said.
“We encourage governments, philanthropists, development agencies, and the private sector to invest in vision correction as livelihood interventions. This evidence-based investment will boost individuals’ earnings as well as generate increased economic output and productivity that is good for communities and the wider economy.”
In addition to measuring the impact of reading glasses on worker income, the study highlighted the opportunity to increase access to vision care by training non-medical personnel, such as community health workers, to conduct basic sight tests and dispense readymade reading glasses.
All the screenings in the trial were conducted by non-medical personnel, as opposed to optometrists. Last year the World Health Organization introduced training for community health workers and primary care providers to identify presbyopia, dispense reading glasses, and refer for other eye conditions.
More than a billion people globally don’t have the glasses they need to see clearly. Presbyopia is the leading cause of vision impairment globally. Without reading glasses more than 826 million people have difficulty performing routine tasks and maximising their income earning potential, the study authors noted.
Reference
- Sehrin, F., Jin, L., Congdon, N., et al. The effect on income of providing near vision correction to workers in Bangladesh: The THRIVE (Tradespeople and Hand-workers Rural Initiative for a Vision-enhanced Economy) randomized controlled trial, PLoS ONE. 2024, 19(4): e0296115. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296115.