Virtual vision testing thanks to the TreC Oculistica App. The study was published in the European
The study “A novel smartphone App to support the clinical practice of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus: the validation of visual acuity tests” – published in #EJP (European journal of Pediatrics – ed. Springer) in June 2023 – was selected by a technical committee and promoted on the newsletter of AAPOS*, the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.
Every month, the technical committee of the Association, which has over 2000 members and is based in Roseville, Minnesota – United States, invites the submission of projects that are of particular importance to report on their newsletter.
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This is how Trentino’s research has been featured in the periodic update, which reaches specialists around the world and therefore represents an opportunity to make the international scientific community aware of the innovative activities taking place in the Province of Trento in the field of pediatric ophthalmology.
The research object of the scientific article, whose first author is Dr. Elisabetta Racano, pediatric ophthalmologist with the Trento and Rovereto Ophthalmology Multizonal Operating Unit of the Trento Province Healthcare System, aimed to describe the TreC Oculistica smartphone app, used by the team during the Covid-19 pandemic, and to validate visual acuity tests in the home environment. The smartphone app, developed by researchers at Fondazione Bruno Kessler, was prescribed to almost 100 eligible patients between September 2020 and March 2022.
With telemedicine, remote testing of visual acuity, eye motility, and head posture did not stop during the health emergency. Remote evaluations proved to be accurate and essential, with tests printed on paper or used via the app directly by patients before they went for their follow-up visit. The data from the trial suggest that vision testing from home can be accurate for older, more cooperative children (average age 11.6 years). On the other hand, the experimentation with younger children was less effective, as they did not show the same congruence between the assessments of vision carried out on their own at home and in the clinic. A key tool for this evaluation was the Trec Oculistica App, downloaded and activated by 97 patients or their caregivers.
Eye alignment and eye motility, as well as head posture, were tested with apps made available to clinicians for the families involved, and which proved to be easy and intuitive to use. Positive results of the trial were also obtained by clinicians, in particular for the collection of useful data for the acreening of possible vision problems.
Trial video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPdWZMoCwTk
*AAPOS is the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. The organization’s objectives are to improve the quality of children’s eye care, to support the training of pediatric ophthalmologists, to support research in pediatric ophthalmology, and to promote the care of adults with strabismus.
*Content covered by intellectual property is used in compliance with the provisions of Articles 2, 21 and 33of
the Constitution and Article 70 of the Copyright Act.
*The publication is carried out with the contribution of the Autonomous Province of Trento as part of the funding agreement for the “TrentinoSalute4.0” program
