title: Comparison between ophthalmologists and community health workers in screening of shallow anterior chamber with oblique flashlight test.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the agreement between ophthalmologists and community health workers in detecting shallow anterior chamber with oblique flashlight test.
  
  
  METHODS
  Totally 425 subjects were given an eye examination in a community health center. The anterior chamber depth of each subject was examined by one ophthalmologist and two trained community health workers (one nurse and one non-professional health worker) using oblique flashlight test. Inter-observer agreement was determined using the weighted kappa statistic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the enrolled subjects, 148 (35%) were male and 277 (65%) were female. Good agreement was noted in all the three observers. The comparison between the ophthalmologist and the nurse showed a kappa statistic of 0.42 for both eyes (P < 0.001). The kappa statistic was 0.54 and 0.52 for right and left eyes respectively between the ophthalmologist and the non-professional health worker (P<0.001). As for agreement between the nurse and the non-professional health, worker, the kappa statistic was 0.49 and 0.38 for right and left eyes, respectively (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The oblique flashlight test may be used as an applicable tool by trained community health workers for screening of shallow anterior chamber and play a role in blindness prevention in community.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Sekwa Eye Hospital, Beijing 100088, China.
authors.forename: Yusoh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nuriyah
authors.forename: Xue-Tao
authors.initials: XT
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xi-Pu
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yan-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000867:Anterior Chamber / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology; D003150:Community Health Workers; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D015812:Glaucoma, Angle-Closure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009885:Ophthalmology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000078329:Workforce; D055815:Young Adult