Assessment of visual acuity via a telephone interview

R. DeiCas, D. A. Street and J. C. Javitt
Worthen Center for Eye Care Research, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC.

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.