title: Assessment of visual acuity via a telephone interview.
abstract: We compared the visual acuity of 89 patients obtained via a telephone interview with visual acuity elicited from the same patients in an ophthalmologist's office. Agreement within one line of vision between the telephone interview, in which patients used a modified Rosenbaum near card with attached patch, and the clinic near vision test was observed in 91% of eyes, while agreement within one line of vision between the telephone interview and clinic distance vision test was found in 86% of eyes. We conclude that testing visual acuity via a telephone interview is a potentially useful approach to assessment of visual acuity and prevalence of visual impairment in the larger population.
authors.affiliation: Worthen Center for Eye Care Research, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: DeiCas
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Street
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Javitt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016353:Self-Examination; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013689:Telephone; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D015351:Vision Screening / Q000379:methods; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*