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Visual Acuity Screening of Refugees and Immigrants with a Web-Based Digital Test: A Pilot Study
Minas Bakirtzis1, Eirini Michaleakou2, Maria-Eleni Martidou2
1Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece. minas961@hotmail.com.
Purpose:
To screen visual acuity in two refugee camps in Greece and explore the feasibility of replicating these methods on a nationwide scale.
Methods:
Visual acuity was assessed in all participants using web-based Democritus Digital Acuity & Reading Test (DDART). Furthermore, the immigrants responded to a structured questionnaire regarding their demographics and medical history.
Results:
A total of 330 adult refugees and immigrants were recruited. A total of 47.3% of the patients had never undergone ophthalmological examination. A significant negative correlation was detected between age (r = -0.207, p < 0.001) and educational background (r = -0.135, p = 0.014), suggesting that younger immigrants who had attended compulsory education were more likely to have their eyes checked in their home country. A total of 6.97% of patients presented with impaired vision and were referred for further care. All remote DDART measurements presented no differences from the corresponding hospital-based data in the referred cases.
Conclusions:
Visual acuity screening using DDART provides valuable information regarding the visual capacity of refugees. The study outcomes suggest that pilot methods can be replicated on a nationwide scale.
Clinical Trials:
Gov number NCT05209581; date of registration: January 13, 2022. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose. Patients Consent Statement: The patients sign written consent form.
