Biomedical Research

Background: Testing visual acuity at home has become possible with advent of smart phone visual acuity applications like Peek. With increasing penetration of smart phones in developing countries like India, the general public can test their visual acuity at home. However, we do not know the accuracy and ease of use of these visual acuity applications at home, by the general public.

Aims: This study was conducted to determine self-measuring and self-reporting of visual acuity using Peek acuity application at home and further validation of the Peek acuity application compared to standard visual acuity testing.

Methods: The participants of age 18 and above, presenting to the Outpatient department, for non-opl acuiththalmic consultations, were invited to join the study by email or social media messaging platform. They were provided the link to the Peek acuity application and a link to the Google form questionnaire to self-report the visuay online. The participants who reported the visual acuity using the application were invited to report to the hospital, where visual acuity was repeated by Peek acuity application and Snellen’s standard visual acuity for validation.

Results: 501/625 (80%) invited participants did self-reporting of visual acuity done at home. The mean Peek acuity reported from home was 0.53 ± 0.33. 91% of participants reported that visual acuity application was easy to use at home. 199 eyes (100 persons), who presented to hospital, the mean home-based Peek acuity was 0.34 ± 0.33; hospital-based Peek acuity was 0.47 ± 0.31; hospital-based Snellen’s acuity was 0.45 ± 0.30. The sensitivity of hospital-based Peek acuity for detection of visual impairment (visual acuity<6/18) is 90.1% and specificity is 97.5%.

Conclusion: The response rate of self-visual acuity reporting was 80% using Peek acuity, suggesting it can be used in general public for vision reporting with a small risk of overestimation of visual impairment with selfreporting. However, there is excellent agreement between hospital-based Peek and Snellen’s acuity.

Author(s): Talvir Sidhu, Mohit Goyal, Gurleen Kaur, Vishu Bansal, Kuldip Singh, Chiman Lal
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