Wearing reading glasses boosted income by a third in low-income communities
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Key takeaways:
- The monthly median income of those in the intervention group increased by 33.4%.
- The intervention group also had a 15% improvement in near vision quality of life.
Providing free reading glasses significantly increased self-reported monthly earnings and quality of life among individuals with presbyopia in low-income communities in Bangladesh, according to study results published in PLOS ONE.
“Presbyopia is the most common cause of visual impairment, affecting 1.8 billion people globally,” Farzana Sehrin, a research fellow at the BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote. “Though presbyopia is safely, effectively and inexpensively corrected with eyeglasses, uncorrected presbyopia impairs an estimated 826 million people’s ability to perform routine near tasks, among whom more than 90% live in low- and middle-income countries.”
Seeking to determine whether providing free reading glasses could increase income and near-vision-related quality of life, researchers conducted the randomized, controlled Tradespeople and Hand-workers Rural Initiative for a Vision-enhanced Economy (THRIVE) study in 59 rural Bangladesh villages.
They identified 824 participants aged 35 to 65 years with presbyopia who had never owned glasses, of whom 423 immediately received reading glasses (intervention) and 401 received glasses 8 months later (control). The visual demands of work varied among participants, although about 50% “engaged in most near-vision-intensive occupations.”
According to results, 88.3% of the intervention group and 7.81% of the control group reported wearing their glasses at the 8-month follow-up. The median monthly income of those in the intervention group increased by 33.4% — from $35.30 at baseline to $47.10 at 8 months — while the control group experienced no increase. By the end of the study, participants in the intervention group were 1.38 times more likely to be in a higher quartile of income change compared with the control group (P = .02).
In addition, the intervention group experienced a 15% improvement in near vision quality of life (P < .001).
Although only 35% of participants were literate, reading glasses helped participants who couldn’t read accomplish tasks including needle, weaving and sorting grain, according to a related press release from VisionSpring, which was involved in the study.
The release also stated that income increases were high among those who were unemployed at the beginning of the study, suggesting that economically inactive individuals were able to return to work as a result of the intervention.
“The THRIVE study reveals that the simple intervention of reading glasses yields outsized impact in terms of income,” Ella Gudwin, study author and VisionSpring CEO, said in the release. “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.”
Reference:
- Wearing glasses boosts income by a third in low-income communities, finds landmark new study. https://visionspring.org/Files/Files/THRIVEPressRelease.pdf. Published April 3, 2024. Accessed April 8, 2024.
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