Aragaw Kegne Assaye

Research Title: Myopia treatment and controlling specific item bank development to measure quality of life. 

Supervisors: Professor Konrad Pesudovs 

Co-supervisors: Dr.Sheela Kumaran, and Dr. Kate Gifford

Research

Background: Myopia or shortsightedness is a prevalent refractive (≤ -0.5DS) condition or anomaly where parallel rays of light are focused in front of the retina instead of on the retina. Although easily corrected by spectacles, contact lenses or surgery, myopia is associated with irreversible vision loss due to complications like retinal detachment and myopic macular degeneration.  This poses a significant global public health concern because the prevalence is increasing rapidly. By the year 2050, half of the world's population is projected to develop myopia. It commonly affects children and adolescents, impacting the quality of learning and general wellbeing.

Myopia development has been addressed using various types of refractive error correction methods and control modalities, including medical and optical (including various spectacle and contact lens approaches). These control strategies typically slow down the rate of myopia progression, resulting in individual becoming less myopic. Clinical assessments traditionally measure outcomes in terms of diopters of myopia and axial eye length in mm. However, an important aspect that has received limited attention in myopia control is the assessment of individual quality of life from patients’ perspective. An essential element of treatment outcome is assessing quality of life using patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) items or item banks.

Quality of life (QOL) is a multidimensional concept based on the subjective perception, skills, attitude, and experience of the health status including general and eye related aspects.  In the context of ophthalmology, it encompasses activity limitations, economic concerns, symptom experiences, social interactions, general condition, convenience, coping mechanisms, and emotions.

The main objective of this study is to develop a myopia control-specific item bank to measure the quality-of-life parameters among participants who undergo myopia control strategies. These participants will be children aged 4-17 years along with their parents, and adults aged18-30 years who are using myopia control strategies during the time of data collection. 

The study will comprise different phases. Phase I is qualitative, and Phase II is quantitative approach,

The overall study period will be from December 2023 to February 2027. 

Keywords: Myopia treatment and control, item bank, quality of life, Rasch Analysis, patient reported outcome

Biography

Aragaw was born on June 30th, 1990. He completed his bachelor's degree in optometry in 2012 and his master’s degree in clinical optometry in 2019. He has worked as a clinician, community server, researcher, and academic at the University of Gondar Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital in Gondar, Ethiopia.

Aragaw has now joined the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, as a PhD student since February 2023. His research focuses on developing a specific item bank for myopia treatment and control to measure quality of life.

Education

September 2017-July 2019:

University of Gondar, college of medicine and health science department of optometry, MSc in clinical Optometry.

September 2008- July 2012:

University of Gondar College of medicine and health science depart of optometry, BSc in Optometry (bachelor’s degree)

Affliations and Memberships

University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney, NSW, Australia

University of Gondar, comprehensive specialized hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia