VISUAL ACUITY ASSESSMENT METHODS IN CHILDREN: TRADITIONAL METHOD VERSUS SMART PHONE APPLICATION METHODS

Purpose: The study evaluated the validity of visual acuity (VA) measurements using smartphone-based applications-Peek acuity and Ocular Check compared to the standard ETDRS chart for potential use in teleophthalmology. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 patients aged 6-18 years. Patients with vision impairment due to any ocular pathologies and prior ocular surgeries were excluded from the study.VA using all three methods were converted to log MAR scale for statistical analysis. One way ANOVA with post-hoc Turkey HSD was used to compare the techniques. Results: No statistically significant differences in VA measurements between the smartphone-based applications (Peek acuity and Ocular check) and ETDRS (F= 2.7664 p= 0.07876). Peek acuity (p= 0.6567) resembled more closely with ETDRS than Ocular check (p=0.3470). Interclass correlation coefficient analysis (ICC)indicated a strong positive correlation between Ocular Check and ETDRS (ICC:0.818 p < 0.05) as well as between Peek acuity and ETDRS (ICC:0.976 p < 0.05). Bland-Altman analysis showed high level of agreement between both smartphone applications and ETDRS. Subgroup analysis found Peek Acuity con-sistent with ETDRS across all groups, while Ocular Check varied in refractive error subjects. Conclusion: The sma-rtphone-based applications Peek Acuity and Ocular Check provide VA measurements comparable to ETDRS, offering a reliable alternative for teleophthalmology.