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The Accuracy of a Web-Based Visual Acuity Self-assessment Tool Performed Independently by Eye Care Patients at Home: Method Comparison Study
BACKGROUND: Telehealth solutions can play an important role in increasing access to eye care. Web-based eye tests can enable individuals to self-assess their visual function remotely without the assistance of an eye care professional. A web-based tool for self-assessing visual acuity (VA) has previ...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
JMIR Publications
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9909522/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36696171 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/41045 |
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author | Claessens, Janneau van Egmond, Juultje Wanten, Joukje Bauer, Noël Nuijts, Rudy Wisse, Robert |
author_facet | Claessens, Janneau van Egmond, Juultje Wanten, Joukje Bauer, Noël Nuijts, Rudy Wisse, Robert |
author_sort | Claessens, Janneau |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Telehealth solutions can play an important role in increasing access to eye care. Web-based eye tests can enable individuals to self-assess their visual function remotely without the assistance of an eye care professional. A web-based tool for self-assessing visual acuity (VA) has previously been studied in controlled, supervised conditions. The accuracy of this tool when performed independently by patients in their home environment, using their own devices, has not yet been examined. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper was to examine the accuracy of a web-based tool with respect to measuring VA in ophthalmic patients in their home environment, compared with a conventional in-hospital assessment using a Snellen chart (the gold standard). METHODS: From April through September 2020, consecutive adult patients with uveitis at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, performed the web-based VA test at home (the index test) before their upcoming conventional VA assessment at the hospital (the reference test). The agreement between the 2 tests was assessed by the Bland-Altman analysis. Additional analyses were performed to investigate associations between clinical characteristics and the accuracy of the web-based test. RESULTS: A total of 98 eyes in 59 patients were included in the study. The difference in VA between the index and reference tests was not significant, with a mean difference of 0.02 (SD 0.12) logMAR (P=.09) and 95% limits of agreement of –0.21 to 0.26 logMAR. The majority of the differences (77%) fell within the predetermined acceptable deviation limit of 0.15 logMAR. In addition, no patient characteristics or clinical parameters were found to significantly affect the accuracy of the web-based test. CONCLUSIONS: This web-based test for measuring VA is a valid tool for remotely assessing VA, also when performed independently by patients at home. Implementation of validated web-based tools like this in the health care system may represent a valuable step forward in revolutionizing teleconsultations and can provide individual patients with the opportunity to self-monitor changes in VA. This is particularly relevant when the patient’s access to ophthalmic care is limited. Future developments should focus on optimizing the testing conditions at home to reduce outliers. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9909522 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | JMIR Publications |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-99095222023-02-10 The Accuracy of a Web-Based Visual Acuity Self-assessment Tool Performed Independently by Eye Care Patients at Home: Method Comparison Study Claessens, Janneau van Egmond, Juultje Wanten, Joukje Bauer, Noël Nuijts, Rudy Wisse, Robert JMIR Form Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Telehealth solutions can play an important role in increasing access to eye care. Web-based eye tests can enable individuals to self-assess their visual function remotely without the assistance of an eye care professional. A web-based tool for self-assessing visual acuity (VA) has previously been studied in controlled, supervised conditions. The accuracy of this tool when performed independently by patients in their home environment, using their own devices, has not yet been examined. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper was to examine the accuracy of a web-based tool with respect to measuring VA in ophthalmic patients in their home environment, compared with a conventional in-hospital assessment using a Snellen chart (the gold standard). METHODS: From April through September 2020, consecutive adult patients with uveitis at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, performed the web-based VA test at home (the index test) before their upcoming conventional VA assessment at the hospital (the reference test). The agreement between the 2 tests was assessed by the Bland-Altman analysis. Additional analyses were performed to investigate associations between clinical characteristics and the accuracy of the web-based test. RESULTS: A total of 98 eyes in 59 patients were included in the study. The difference in VA between the index and reference tests was not significant, with a mean difference of 0.02 (SD 0.12) logMAR (P=.09) and 95% limits of agreement of –0.21 to 0.26 logMAR. The majority of the differences (77%) fell within the predetermined acceptable deviation limit of 0.15 logMAR. In addition, no patient characteristics or clinical parameters were found to significantly affect the accuracy of the web-based test. CONCLUSIONS: This web-based test for measuring VA is a valid tool for remotely assessing VA, also when performed independently by patients at home. Implementation of validated web-based tools like this in the health care system may represent a valuable step forward in revolutionizing teleconsultations and can provide individual patients with the opportunity to self-monitor changes in VA. This is particularly relevant when the patient’s access to ophthalmic care is limited. Future developments should focus on optimizing the testing conditions at home to reduce outliers. JMIR Publications 2023-01-25 /pmc/articles/PMC9909522/ /pubmed/36696171 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/41045 Text en ©Janneau Claessens, Juultje van Egmond, Joukje Wanten, Noël Bauer, Rudy Nuijts, Robert Wisse. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 25.01.2023. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Formative Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://formative.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. |
spellingShingle | Original Paper Claessens, Janneau van Egmond, Juultje Wanten, Joukje Bauer, Noël Nuijts, Rudy Wisse, Robert The Accuracy of a Web-Based Visual Acuity Self-assessment Tool Performed Independently by Eye Care Patients at Home: Method Comparison Study |
title | The Accuracy of a Web-Based Visual Acuity Self-assessment Tool Performed Independently by Eye Care Patients at Home: Method Comparison Study |
title_full | The Accuracy of a Web-Based Visual Acuity Self-assessment Tool Performed Independently by Eye Care Patients at Home: Method Comparison Study |
title_fullStr | The Accuracy of a Web-Based Visual Acuity Self-assessment Tool Performed Independently by Eye Care Patients at Home: Method Comparison Study |
title_full_unstemmed | The Accuracy of a Web-Based Visual Acuity Self-assessment Tool Performed Independently by Eye Care Patients at Home: Method Comparison Study |
title_short | The Accuracy of a Web-Based Visual Acuity Self-assessment Tool Performed Independently by Eye Care Patients at Home: Method Comparison Study |
title_sort | accuracy of a web-based visual acuity self-assessment tool performed independently by eye care patients at home: method comparison study |
topic | Original Paper |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9909522/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36696171 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/41045 |
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