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. 2015 Nov;29(11):1464-8.
doi: 10.1038/eye.2015.138. Epub 2015 Jul 24.

Effectiveness of a smartphone application for testing near visual acuity

S Tofigh  1 , E Shortridge  1 , A Elkeeb  1 , B F Godley  1
Affiliations

Effectiveness of a smartphone application for testing near visual acuity

S Tofigh et al. Eye (Lond). 2015 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the discrepancy between the near visual acuity (VA) measurements using the EyeHandBook smartphone application and the conventional method of using the near vision card.

Methods: Using similar environmental/examinational conditions, near VA measurements were obtained and compared using the near vision card and the EyeHandBook app for IPhone 5 from 100 subjects. The obtained data were changed to LogMAR format and the relationship between the two techniques was analyzed by paired sample t-test and scatterplot.

Results: With a P-value of<0.0001, our results indicate that the EyeHandBook application running on IPhone 5 overestimates the near VA compared with the conventional near vision card by an average of 0.11 LogMAR unless the measurement done by the near vision card was 20/20.

Conclusions: Owing to vast utilization of portable high-definition screens in VA measurements, eye-care providers have to be mindful of the potential disparity in VA measurement between different platforms, which in our study was likely secondary to the high contrast and brightness levels of the smartphone's high-definition screen when compared with the near vision card.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison bar graph of the LogMAR VA measurements from the EyeHandBook app running on IPhone 5 versus the near vison card. Subjects' presentation has been arranged based on increasing LogMAR values measured by the near vision card. This figure excludes subjects with LogMAR value of 0.0 for both EyeHandBook app running on IPhone 5 and the near vison card.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plot of the VA measurements with correlated 1 : 1 and regression lines from the EyeHandBook app running on IPhone 5 versus the near vison card was obtained using Microsoft Excel 2010 application.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bland–Altman plot obtained from the available sample pool comparing the relationship between the LogMAR VA measurements from the EyeHandBook app running on IPhone 5 versus the near vison card.
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