Use of Mobile Apps for Visual Acuity Assessment: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Vision impairments (VI) and blindness are one of the core global public health issues. Visual acuity (VA) is one of the most crucial standard psychophysical test of visual function, and used widely in a broad range of healthcare domain, especially in many clinical settings. OBJECTIVE To assess the accuracy and application of using Mobile devices-based visual acuity measurement apps. METHODS We searched Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar for relevant articles published between January 1, 2008 and July 1 2020. Two reviewers independently selected studies that assessed the mobile-based VA measurement apps. We included all studies that assessed a tablet and/or smartphone VA measurement apps. RESULTS Most of the enrolled 22 studies considered as high quality studies, evaluating by QUADAS-2. In meta-analysis, six studies involving 24284 participants were included. In 3~5 years old group, the pooled sensitivity was 0.87 (95% CI 0.79, 0.93); the pooled specificity was 0.78 (95% CI 0.70, 0.85); In 6~22 years old group, the pooled sensitivity was 0.86 (95% CI 0.84, 0.87); the pooled specificity was 0.91 (95% CI 0.90, 0.91). In ≥55 years old group, the pooled sensitivity was 0.85 (95% CI 0.55, 0.98); the pooled specificity was 0.98 (95% CI 0.95, 0.99). CONCLUSIONS In this study, we conducted a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research to investigate the diagnostic value and limitations of existing mobile-based VA test applications. Evidence from this study shows that mobile-based app VA measurements may be useful tools for VI detection.