title: Do recycled spectacles meet the refractive needs of a developing country?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to compare the power of spectacles donated to a recycled spectacle program to the custom-made spectacle refractive prescriptions dispensed in a developing country.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred consecutive prescriptions were audited in an optical dispensary in Timor-Leste, a developing nation. These refractions were compared against measurements of 2,075 wearable donated spectacles. We determined how many of the 200 prescriptions could be matched to a donated spectacle measurement, how many donated spectacles could be tried for each prescription and how long it would take to find the matched spectacles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 1,854 donated spectacles identified as being suitable for comparison with the 200 refractive prescriptions. Twenty-nine out of 200 prescriptions (14.5 per cent) were matched to at least one pair of donated spectacles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recycling all spectacles is not cost-effective in a developing country that has the ability to make custom-made spectacles and dispense ready-made spectacles.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Western Australia/ Lions Eye Institute, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Sue Ling
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Seyhan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yazar
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hiew
authors.forename: Johnson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gengatharen
authors.forename: Leonel Ximenes
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Mackey
mesh_terms: D003906:Developing Countries; D004209:Disposable Equipment / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D005139:Eyeglasses / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D049648:Timor-Leste / Q000453:epidemiology; D014904:Western Australia
keywords: custom-made; donated spectacles; ready-made; recycled spectacles; uncorrected refractive error