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Near vision assessment for adults using the NIH Toolbox.
John-Christopher A Finley1, Jerry Slotkin2, Cindy J Nowinski3,4
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States.
Frontiers in Neurology
|February 4, 2025
Summary
The NIH Toolbox Near Visual Acuity Test demonstrates good reliability and validity for assessing near vision in adults aged 40 and older. This digital tool offers a time- and cost-effective alternative to traditional methods.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Gerontology
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Near visual acuity is crucial for daily activities and cognitive function in aging populations.
- Traditional near vision tests can be time-consuming and costly.
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox developed a novel digitized near visual acuity test.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the psychometric properties of the NIH Toolbox Near Visual Acuity Test.
- To assess the reliability and validity of this digital test in middle-aged and older adults.
- To compare the digital test with a gold standard chart-based near vision test.
Main Methods:
- Ninety-eight adults (ages 40-81) participated in the study.
- Participants completed both the tablet-based NIH Toolbox Near Visual Acuity Test and a chart-based near vision test.
- Test-retest reliability was assessed by administering the digital test twice on the same day.
Main Results:
- The NIH Toolbox Near Visual Acuity Test showed good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation = 0.87, p < 0.001).
- Concurrence between the digital test and the gold standard chart-based test was also good (r = 0.79, p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
- The NIH Toolbox Near Visual Acuity Test is a reliable and valid measure for assessing near vision in middle-aged and older adults.
- This digital tool offers a potentially more efficient method for near vision assessment.
- Further research could integrate this test into the NIH Toolbox to study visual acuity's impact on neurocognition.
