Ease and willingness to use Smartphone applications for visual acuity assessment among patients in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria

Abstract

Background: Smartphone applications (apps) are increasingly becoming more popular for medical use. Aim: The aim of this article is to determine the willingness and ease of using smartphone apps for visual assessment among adult patients attending the general outpatient ophthalmology clinic of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria in Nigeria. Design: The study was a hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional design. Materials and Methods: New and old adult patients who presented at the clinic and consented to the study were selected. Visual acuity assessment was done using a 6-m Snellen chart and three selected Smartphone visual acuity applications sequentially. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection and then analysed using SPSS version 23. Results: A total of 287 patients were studied. Majority (96%) of the patients found the Smartphone apps to be easy to use. A good proportion (76%) of the patients also believed that Smartphone charts were easier to use than the conventional Snellen chart and expressed willingness to use the app again. Conclusion: Smartphone visual acuity apps could offer a convenient, easy-to-learn, and easy-to-use means of visual acuity assessment. This coupled with the demonstrated patient’s willingness to embrace this technology could be used to encourage the use of clinically validated apps for the early detection as well as monitoring of any impairment of vision, especially in out-of-clinic situations.