Clinical Ophthalmology (Feb 2021)

Comparison of Visual Acuity Measurement Using Three Methods: Standard ETDRS Chart, Near Chart and a Smartphone-Based Eye Chart Application

  • Tiraset N,
  • Poonyathalang A,
  • Padungkiatsagul T,
  • Deeyai M,
  • Vichitkunakorn P,
  • Vanikieti K

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 859 – 869

Abstract

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Nanida Tiraset,1 Anuchit Poonyathalang,1 Tanyatuth Padungkiatsagul,1 Montakarn Deeyai,1 Polathep Vichitkunakorn,2 Kavin Vanikieti1 1Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; 2Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, ThailandCorrespondence: Kavin Vanikieti Email [email protected]: To validate the Rosenbaum near vision card (Near Chart) and a smartphone-based visual acuity (VA) test (Eye Chart) against a standard retro-illuminated Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) chart within participants.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of participants aged ≥ 18 years was conducted. VA was measured in all participants using the ETDRS chart, Near Chart and smartphone-based Eye Chart application, respectively. VA was converted to logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) for statistical analysis. Eyes with ETDRS VA worse than 1.0 logMAR (20/200) were excluded. The main outcome measures were levels of agreement between VA measured using the Near Chart or Eye Chart application vs the ETDRS chart.Results: A total of 295 eyes of 151 participants were included. One hundred participants (66.2%) were female and the mean age was 64.3 ± 12.5 years. Educational level was high school or below for 49% of participants and at Bachelor’s degree or above for 51%. The median logMAR VAs of all eyes tested using the ETDRS chart, Near Chart and Eye Chart application were 0.1, 0.0 and 0.1, respectively. The median VA difference between the Near Chart vs ETDRS chart and Eye Chart application vs ETDRS chart was 0.0 logMAR in both cases for both the right eye (OD) and left eye (OS). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) demonstrated a strong positive correlation between VA tested with the Near Chart vs ETDRS chart (OD: ICC=0.85; p< 0.001, OS: ICC=0.77; p< 0.001) and Eye Chart application vs ETDRS chart (OD: ICC=0.88; p< 0.001, OS: ICC=0.74; p< 0.001).Conclusion: VA measurements with the Near Chart and smartphone-based Eye Chart application corresponded well to the standard ETDRS chart, suggesting potential utility of alternative portable VA tests for in-office or remote vision monitoring, particularly during periods of physical distancing such as the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era.Keywords: visual acuity, ETDRS chart, Rosenbaum near vision card, smartphone-based Eye Chart application, COVID-19

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