Enhancing access and clinical triage in primary eye care through digital vision testing: validation of the SightConnect mobile application.
SightConnect app graded eye-exam referral urgency with 78-90% accuracy
Enhancing access and clinical triage in primary eye care through digital vision testing: validation of the SightConnect mobile application.
Assessment of vision is the vital first step of an eye exam for determining visual status.
To assess the accuracy and agreement for measuring vision using the SightConnect mobile application (SightConnect) compared to in-clinic standard vision testing using the charts and to evaluate the performance of the SightConnect visual acuity grading algorithm, which classifies the visual acuity into one of these categories of visual impairment: mild, moderate and severe.
Individuals visiting LV Prasad Eye Institute as part of their ophthalmic consultation were consecutively recruited for this study.
app correctly flagged how urgently 78-90% of eyes needed care
Of these 710 participants in part-1 and 771 participants in part-2.
The mean difference in near visual acuity assessment between SightConnect and the clinical measurements was 0.08 logMAR (-4 letters).
For distance acuity, the mean difference between SightConnect and clinical measurements was 0.09 logMAR.
The intraclass correlation coefficients indicated moderate reliability, with ICCs of 0.74 for near and 0.67 for distance acuity measurements.
Visual acuity testing using the SightConnect mobile application reported moderate agreement with the standard clinical assessments, and the accuracy in grading visual acuity and suggesting referral urgency was acceptable.
These findings support the use of SightConnect applications for enabling and enhancing access to primary eye care services and guiding users on when to seek clinical attention.