title: Usefulness of computerized visual acuity testing in a pediatric ophthalmology clinic.
abstract: We investigated the usefulness of a computerized illiterate-E-style acuity test in 111 children ranging in age from 3 to 13 (mean 6.56) years consecutively referred to a large pediatric ophthalmology clinic. Visual acuity was measured in both eyes of each subject by means of conventional testing with an optical projection device and computerized testing with a program run on a microcomputer. Of the 222 eyes 155 (70%) showed no difference in visual acuity between the two procedures. A difference of one acuity line was found for 63 eyes (28%), and a difference of two lines was found for 4 eyes (2%). The conventional test yielded a higher acuity score in 75% of the cases in which a one-line difference was found and 50% of those in which a two-line difference was found. Our results indicate that computerized testing is a valid and effective method of assessing visual acuity in children.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000592:standards*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity