Validity and Reliability of WHOeyes Application in Community-based Visual Acuity Screening Program.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Public Health
• Digital Health

Background:

• Electronic vision screening tools, including mobile apps, are increasingly used but often lack validation.
• Concerns exist regarding the accuracy and safety of unvalidated digital vision screening methods.
• This study addresses the need for validation of mobile applications in community vision screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the validity of the WHOeyes app against the gold standard Snellen chart for community vision screening.
• To evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the WHOeyes app.
• To assess the agreement between the WHOeyes app and the Snellen chart in a community setting.

Main Methods:

• A community-based analytical cross-sectional study was conducted with 601 participants aged 9 years and older.
• Visual acuity was assessed using both the WHOeyes app and the Snellen chart by separate examiners.
• Measurements were converted to logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (MAR) units for comparative analysis.

Main Results:

• The WHOeyes app demonstrated good sensitivity (66.67%-100%) and specificity (85.7%-100%).
• Kappa values indicated moderate to substantial agreement between the WHOeyes app and the Snellen chart for visual impairment detection.
• The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed an area under the curve of 0.96, suggesting high diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The WHOeyes app is a valid and reliable tool for visual impairment screening in community settings.
• The app shows promising performance comparable to traditional methods like the Snellen chart.
• WHOeyes can be effectively utilized for identifying visual impairments across diverse age groups in public health initiatives.