Rule-based diagnostic decision aids for common eye problems

In developing countries, blindness often results from a lack of proper treatment for relatively simple eye problems. Specialist medical care is not readily available, and patients are seen by frontline health workers. To assist primary health workers in the management of common and potentially blinding eye disorders, the authors have developed a computer program for a hand-held computer that incorporates a set of guidelines for diagnosis and treatment or referral to a more distant medical center. They review the progress made in implementing, testing, and disseminating this program. They also describe progress in developing another program for automating laboratory test selection in uveitis.<>