Ses were carefully formulated to minimise the possibility of bias. Also, the study population was carefully defined, with the sample size that represented each village included in the study (Table 1). The result focused only on those living within 5 km of a hospital offering eye care services, to eliminate the problem of inaccessibility to the services. The results cannot be fpsyg.2017.00209 generalised to all rural areas of the Capricorn district as only those close to the hospitals were sampled.Recruitment procedureVolunteers residing within 5 km radius from each of the government hospitals offering eye care (ophthalmological and or optometric) services were included in the study; children and those living outside the study sites were excluded. The field work (data collection) was done during the week and on weekends between 09:00 and 17:00. In rare cases when nobody was available in the residence visited, such a place was revisited. The head of the household or the most elderly adult present in the house during the visit was invited to participate in the study.MethodsSubjects and materialOne thousand adults living in the rural areas within 5 km of government hospitals offering eye care services were included in the study. As these were rural residents, they were of lower economic status and many might not beTABLE 1: Showing the hospitals, the RR6 biological activity Number of villages within 5 km, the number of households in these villages and the number of households sampled.Hospitals Polokwane-Mankweng Seshego W.F. Knobel Lebowakgomo Zebediela Botlokwa Total Number of villages 10 5 8 4 5 6 38 Number of households 11 244 7821 3040 2888 4128 6386 35 507 Sample size per hospital 314 218 96 80 116 178Informed consentThose who agreed to participate in the study were given the University of Limpopo consent form. All those invited agreed to participate in the study and signed the form.http://www.phcfm.orgdoi:10.4102/phcfm.v4i1.Page 4 Chloroquine (diphosphate) site ofOriginal Researcheducated to the level that would provide good employment and adequate salary. A questionnaire with closed and openended questions based on the literature review was developed in English, translated into Northern Sotho (the local dialect) and back translated into English to ensure accuracy. The Northern Sotho version was then used in the study. Only adult participants of wcs.1183 both sexes, permanently resident in the study sites and who signed the informed consent form were included. Those visiting were excluded.Ratings of eye care services were measured on a Likert-type scale of 1-4, where 1 is poor, 2, 3 and 4 are good, very good and excellent respectively for questions such as `How would you rate the quality of eye care services that you received at the hospital?’ The questionnaire was administered to the head of household or the most elderly person present in the house during the visit. To ensure good response rates and afford the opportunity to clarify issues relating to the questionnaire, the researcher and research assistants distributed the questionnaires to the selected houses. Illiterate persons were assisted by the researcher and trained research assistants to complete the questionnaire. In such cases, efforts were made to accurately read each question to the person, and responses were accurately recorded as reported. In rare cases when participants indicated that they could not complete the questionnaires immediately, they were given the questionnaire for completion and it was collected later.SettingThe study was carried out i.Ses were carefully formulated to minimise the possibility of bias. Also, the study population was carefully defined, with the sample size that represented each village included in the study (Table 1). The result focused only on those living within 5 km of a hospital offering eye care services, to eliminate the problem of inaccessibility to the services. The results cannot be fpsyg.2017.00209 generalised to all rural areas of the Capricorn district as only those close to the hospitals were sampled.Recruitment procedureVolunteers residing within 5 km radius from each of the government hospitals offering eye care (ophthalmological and or optometric) services were included in the study; children and those living outside the study sites were excluded. The field work (data collection) was done during the week and on weekends between 09:00 and 17:00. In rare cases when nobody was available in the residence visited, such a place was revisited. The head of the household or the most elderly adult present in the house during the visit was invited to participate in the study.MethodsSubjects and materialOne thousand adults living in the rural areas within 5 km of government hospitals offering eye care services were included in the study. As these were rural residents, they were of lower economic status and many might not beTABLE 1: Showing the hospitals, the number of villages within 5 km, the number of households in these villages and the number of households sampled.Hospitals Polokwane-Mankweng Seshego W.F. Knobel Lebowakgomo Zebediela Botlokwa Total Number of villages 10 5 8 4 5 6 38 Number of households 11 244 7821 3040 2888 4128 6386 35 507 Sample size per hospital 314 218 96 80 116 178Informed consentThose who agreed to participate in the study were given the University of Limpopo consent form. All those invited agreed to participate in the study and signed the form.http://www.phcfm.orgdoi:10.4102/phcfm.v4i1.Page 4 ofOriginal Researcheducated to the level that would provide good employment and adequate salary. A questionnaire with closed and openended questions based on the literature review was developed in English, translated into Northern Sotho (the local dialect) and back translated into English to ensure accuracy. The Northern Sotho version was then used in the study. Only adult participants of wcs.1183 both sexes, permanently resident in the study sites and who signed the informed consent form were included. Those visiting were excluded.Ratings of eye care services were measured on a Likert-type scale of 1-4, where 1 is poor, 2, 3 and 4 are good, very good and excellent respectively for questions such as `How would you rate the quality of eye care services that you received at the hospital?’ The questionnaire was administered to the head of household or the most elderly person present in the house during the visit. To ensure good response rates and afford the opportunity to clarify issues relating to the questionnaire, the researcher and research assistants distributed the questionnaires to the selected houses. Illiterate persons were assisted by the researcher and trained research assistants to complete the questionnaire. In such cases, efforts were made to accurately read each question to the person, and responses were accurately recorded as reported. In rare cases when participants indicated that they could not complete the questionnaires immediately, they were given the questionnaire for completion and it was collected later.SettingThe study was carried out i.
