Abstract
Purpose :
85% of US adults have a smartphone with 87 million people using a health or wellness app monthly in 2020.1 There are 350,000 eHealth apps.2 Roughly 33M adults in the US have the chief complaint of vision loss. An estimated 93M are at high risk for serious visual impairment3. Only half have visited an eye doctor in the past 12 months, due to COVID 19.3 American adults over the age of 18 fall into the demographic of mobile app users.
Do free apps help our eye patients during this pandemic?
Methods :
We used the search terms “vision test” and “eye exam” in the Apple App Store to compile a list of the top 10 free apps. We looked for how many free apps have eye charts that are “recognized” such as Snellen chart, Landolt C, LogMAR chart, Amsler grid & Visual Field. Control: Inclusion criteria: 1) free; 2) English language; 3) ≥50 reviews, ≥4 star rating in the Apple App store. Exclusion criteria: 1) foreign languages 2) paid apps.
Results :
Results: Top 10 iOS apps (from most downloads to least) in the Apple App Store seen in Table 1. For all iOS apps, Snellen vision test: 9/10; Landolt C: 1/10; LogMAR chart: 3/10; Amsler grid: 3/10; Visual field 1/10. Only 1 app connected you with a local optometrist or ophthalmologist. Only 3/10 apps had >1K reviews. iOS apps do not provide a number of downloads.
Conclusions :
Although many adults have not received an eye exam over the past 12 months, physicians can still connect with their patients through public education with the use of mobile apps. However, current eHealth apps can improve their content for eye patients.
References:
1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2016, May 19). Visual impairment, blindness cases in the U.S. are expected to double by 2050. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved January 6, 2022, from https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/visual-impairment-blindness-cases-us-expected-double-2050
2. 11 surprising Mobile Health Statistics. Mobius MD. (2021, December 21). Retrieved January 6, 2022, from https://mobius.md/2021/10/25/11-mobile-health-statistics. /
3. Facts and Figures on Adults with Vision Loss. The American Foundation for the Blind. (n.d.). Retrieved January 6, 2022, from https://www.afb.org/research-and-initiatives/statistics/adults
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.