Subjective Wellbeing, Work Performance and Lived Experience of Zanzibari Women Entrepreneurs with Uncorrected Functional Presbyopia: A Pre-Post Mixed-Methods Study

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic profiles of women entrepreneurs with uncorrected presbyopia (n = 217).

Demographics	Number of women entrepreneurs with uncorrected presbyopia (%)
Age group (years)
35–44	54 (24.9%)
45–55	99 (45.6%)
Older than 55	64 (29.5%)
Mean age (standard deviation)	51.6 (8.46)
Level of education
No formal education	25 (11.5%)
Did not complete primary education	25 (11.5%)
Completed primary education	99 (45.6%)
Completed secondary education	66 (30.4%)
*missing data = 2
Type of engaged work
Weaving	113 (52.1%)
Tailoring and sewing	63 (29.0%)
Pottery	9 (4.1%)
Producing oil and making soaps	20 (9.2%)
Farming	12 (5.5%)
Years working as an entrepreneur
Less than a year	1 (0.5%)
1 to 10 years	141 (65.3%)
>10 to 20 years	57 (26.4%)
>20 to 30 years	14 (6.5%)
>30 to 40 years	3 (1.4%)
*missing data = 1
Marital status
Single	2 (0.9%)
Married	163 (75.1%)
Widowed	30 (13.8%)
Separated/divorced	22 (10.1%)
Number of children
1 to 4	61 (28.1%)
5 to 8	115 (53.0%)
More than 8	37 (17.1%)
*missing data = 4
Number of dependents
None	14 (6.5%)
1 to 4	119 (54.8%)
5 to 8	75 (34.6%)
More than 8	9 (4.1%)
Access to a mobile phone
Yes	191 (88.0%)
No	26 (12.0%)
With distance refractive error
Yes	40 (18.4%)
No	177 (81.6%)

Table 2. Subjective wellbeing and work performance before and after correction.

	Women entrepreneurs with uncorrected functional presbyopia (N = 217)	p-value*
Mean subjective wellbeing score
(a) Before eyesight is corrected	3.32 ± 1.10
(b) When corrected	5.99 ± 1.13
Mean difference in subjective wellbeing score
- Perceived immediate change in wellbeing when eyesight is corrected Ʃ(b) – (a)/N	2.67 ± 1.32 (2.49, 2.85)	<0.001
Mean work performance score
(c) Before eyesight is corrected	4.62 ± 1.36
(d) When corrected	5.47 ± 1.35
Mean difference in work performance score - Perceived immediate change in self-rated work performance when eyesight is corrected Ʃ(c) – (d)/N	0.848 ± 1.41 (0.66, 1.04)	<0.001

*paired sample t-test was used.

Table 3. Prevalence of, and factors associated with women entrepreneurs with functional presbyopia rated subjective wellbeing and work performance scores less than 5.

	Women entrepreneurs with a wellbeing score of < 5 * (N = 190)	Odds Ratio (95% CI)^	Women entrepreneurs with a work performance score of < 5 * (N = 121)	Odds Ratio (95% CI)^
Age group (years) 35–44 45–55 Older than 55	44 (23.2%) 91 (47.9%) 55 (28.9%) p = .156	Reference 2.59 (0.95, 7.01) 1.39 (0.52, 3.72)	25 (20.7%) 59 (48.8%) 37 (30.6%) p = .264	Reference 1.71 (0.88, 3.34) 1.59 (0.77, 3.30)
Level of education No formal education Did not complete primary education Completed primary education Completed secondary education	24 (12.8%) 22 (11.7%) 87 (46.3%) 55 (29.3%) p = .439	Reference 0.32 (0.03, 3.16) 0.30 (0.04, 2.44) 0.21 (0.03, 1.71)	17 (14.0%) 11 (9.10%) 59 (48.8%) 34 (28.1%) p = .264	Reference 0.37 (0.12, 1.17) 0.69 (0.27, 1.76) 0.50 (0.19, 1.32)
Type of craftwork engaged Weaving Sewing Pottery Producing oil and making soaps Farming	98 (51.6%) 56 (29.5%) 8 (4.20%) 16 (8.40%) 12 (6.30%) p = .567	Reference 1.22 (0.47, 3.18) 1.22 (0.14, 10.5) 0.61 (0.18, 2.08) N/A	66 (54.5%) 35 (28.9%) 4 (3.30%) 10 (8.30%) 6 (5.00%) p = .875	Reference 0.89 (0.48, 1.66) 0.57 (0.15, 2.24) 0.71 (0.28, 1.85) 0.71 (0.22, 2.35)
Years working as women entrepreneurs Less than a year 1 to 10 years >10 to 20 years >20 to 30 years >30 to 40 years	1 (0.50%) 124 (65.6%) 48 (25.4%) 13 (6.90%) 3 (1.60%) p = .822	N/A Reference 0.73 (0.31, 1.75) 1.78 (0.22, 14.5) N/A	1 (0.80%) 65 (53.7%) 41 (33.9%) 11 (9.10%) 3 (2.50%) p = .002	N/A Reference 3.00 (1.54, 5.83)^# 4.29 (1.15, 16.0) ^# N/A
Marital status Single Married Widowed Separated/divorced	2 (1.10%) 146 (76.8%) 24 (12.6%) 18 (9.50%) p = .372	N/A Reference 0.47 (0.17, 1.30) 0.52 (0.16, 1.73)	-93 (76.9%) 15 (12.4%) 13 (10.7%) p = .371	N/A Reference 0.75 (0.35, 1.64) 1.09 (0.44, 2.69)
Number of children 1 to 4 5 to 8 More than 8	51 (27.3%) 100 (53.5%) 36 (19.3%) p = .194	Reference 1.31 (0.55, 3.12) 7.06 (0.87, 57.6)	29 (24.4%) 67 (56.3%) 23 (19.3%) p = .452	Reference 1.54 (0.83, 2.88) 1.81 (0.79, 4.17)
Number of dependents None 1 to 4 5 to 8 More than 8	13 (6.80%) 104 (54.7%) 65 (34.2%) 8 (4.20%) p = .93	Reference 0.53 (0.07, 4.38) 0.50 (0.06, 4.25) 0.62 (0.03, 11.3)	10 (8.30%) 68 (56.2%) 39 (32.2%) 4 (3.30%) p = .497	Reference 0.53 (0.16, 1.80) 0.43 (0.13, 1.51) 0.32 (0.06, 1.85)
Access to a mobile phone Yes No	167 (87.9%) 23 (12.1%) p = .88	Reference 1.10 (0.31, 3.95)	105 (86.8%) 16 (13.2%) p = .527	Reference 1.31 (0.57, 3.04)

*Chi-square was used; ^ Multinomial regression was used; ^#p <.005; N/A: odds ratio too small to report.

Table 4. Self-rated effects of presbyopia on women entrepreneurs’ daily lives (n = 217).

Statements	None or mild difficulty N (%)	Moderate Difficulty N (%)	Severe difficulty or cannot do it at all N (%)
1. How much difficulty do you have in seeing close objects?	74 (34.1%)	83 (38.2%)	60 (27.6%)
2. Because of your eyesight, how much difficulty do you have in looking after your appearance?	104 (47.9%)	78 (35.9%)	35 (16.2%)
3. How much difficulty do you have reading ordinary-size print, such as a label on a food package?	95 (43.8%)	68 (31.1%)	54 (24.9%)
4. How much difficulty do you have in sewing or using hand tools?	72 (33.2%)	90 (41.5%)	55 (25.3%)
5. How much difficulty do you have reading the display on your mobile phone?	146 (66.3%)	1 (0.50%)	70 (32.2%)
Statements	Never or rarely N (%)	Sometimes N (%)	Often or very often N (%)
6. Because of your poor eyesight, how often do you need to ask for help from others in your daily activities?	62 (28.5%)	82 (37.8%)	73 (33.7%)
Statements	Definitely or mostly true N (%)	Not Sure N (%)	Mostly or definitely false N (%)
7. I feel frustrated a lot of the time because of my poor eyesight”.	156 (72.9%)	16 (7.4%)	45 (20.8%)
Statements	None or a little of the time N (%)	Some of the time N (%)	Most or all of the time N (%)
8. In the past 2 weeks, how often did vision problems limit the kind or amount of work you could do?	54 (24.9%)	113 (52.1%)	50 (23.1%)
9. In the past 2 weeks, have you been limited in how long you can work or do other activities because of your vision?	68 (33.3%)	109 (50.2%)	40 (18.4%)

Table 5. Quote number, illustrative quotes and women entrepreneur’s descriptions from the qualitative semi-structured interviews.

Quote number	Illustrative quotes	Descriptions (Craft_Age in years_Location)
Quote 1	“It affected me somehow because the work that has to be done in two days with someone who does not have an eye problem, it takes me three to four days to accomplish that work.”	Potter_48_Unguja
Quote 2	“I was not able to do my work properly, for example … when I want to stitch clothes.”	Tailor_44_Unguja
Quote 3	“I was not doing my work properly, so the income also (negatively) affected”	Weaver_40_Unguja
Quote 4	“when (poor vision) happens I cannot go on working.”	Potter_45_Pemba.
Quote 5	“ … my vision impairment hindered me to advertise my business on social media.”	Weaver_41_Pemba
Quote 6	“ … I was struggling in reading and putting the thread into the needle.”	Tailor_44_Unguja
Quote 7	“I can’t see the name of the place that was labelled in front of the car, so I don’t know whether that car is the right one to take…”	Potter_45_Pemba
Quote 8	“I had trouble walking because even shopping was a problem.”	Tailor_46_Pemba
Quote 9	“ … feeling headache and sometimes feeling very tired after forcing myself to continue with tailoring while eyes are already tired.”	Tailor_40_Pemba
Quote 10	“ … cannot go on working.”	Potter_45_Pemba
Quote 11	“because I was worried that my business would not run smoothly as a start for fear of making mistakes that would ruin my crafts with an eye problem … ”	Tailor_46_Pemba
Quote 12	“I could not see even a voucher to recharge my airtime, … that reduced my confidence”	Weaver_40_Unguja
Quote 13	“ … if there is no one to help me [to put] the thread, I could not proceed. I just quit working.”	Weaver_58_Unguja
Quote 14	“ … for example, even in pinpointing the sewing injection, it was very stressful for me, and I had to call the kids who sometimes refuse and run, it was bothering me.”	Tailor_48_Pemba
Quote 15	“if I want to read SMS, I had to ask my children for … help to read for me or putting voucher into my phone.”	Weaver_40_Unguja
Quote 16	“Yes, my involvement in social activities will increase, because I was avoiding some of the journeys because of my eyesight problem.”	Potter_45_Pemba
Quote 17	“ … I am an activist involved in social and political work with women, so in reading, I was not comfortable at all.”	Weaver_58_Unguja