Nida Esmael Kedir, Bekele Sisay, Geurts Luc, Vanden Abeele Vero
e-Media Lab, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Department of Ophthalmology, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
JMIR Form Res. 2021 Sep 17;5(9):e26602. doi: 10.2196/26602.
Glaucoma, the silent thief of sight, is a major cause of blindness worldwide. It is a burden for people in low-income countries, specifically countries where glaucoma-induced blindness accounts for 15% of the total incidence of blindness. More than half the people living with glaucoma in low-income countries are unaware of the disease until it progresses to an advanced stage, resulting in permanent visual impairment.
This study aims to evaluate the acceptability of the Glaucoma Easy Screener (GES), a low-cost and portable visual field screening platform comprising a smartphone, a stereoscopic virtual reality headset, and a gaming joystick.
A mixed methods study that included 24 eye care professionals from 4 hospitals in Southwest Ethiopia was conducted to evaluate the acceptability of GES. A pre-post design was used to collect perspectives before and after using the GES by using questionnaires and semistructured interviews. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine the significance of any change in the scores of the questionnaire items (two-tailed, 95% CI; α=.05). The questionnaire and interview questions were guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology.
Positive results were obtained both before and after use, suggesting the acceptance of mobile health solutions for conducting glaucoma screening by using a low-cost headset with a smartphone and a game controller. There was a significant increase (two-tailed, 95% CI; α=.05) in the average scores of 86% (19/22) of postuse questionnaire items compared with those of preuse questionnaire items. Ophthalmic professionals perceived GES as easy to use and as a tool that enabled the conduct of glaucoma screening tests, especially during outreach to rural areas. However, positive evaluations are contingent on the accuracy of the tool. Moreover, ophthalmologists voiced the need to limit the tool to screening only (ie, not for making diagnoses).
This study supports the feasibility of using a mobile device in combination with a low-cost virtual reality headset and classic controller for glaucoma screening in rural areas. GES has the potential to reduce the burden of irreversible blindness caused by glaucoma. However, further assessment of its sensitivity and specificity is required.
青光眼，视力的无声窃贼，是全球失明的主要原因。它给低收入国家的人们带来了负担，特别是那些青光眼导致的失明占失明总发病率15%的国家。在低收入国家，超过一半的青光眼患者直到病情发展到晚期才意识到自己患病，从而导致永久性视力损害。
本研究旨在评估青光眼简易筛查仪（GES）的可接受性，这是一种低成本的便携式视野筛查平台，由智能手机、立体虚拟现实头戴式设备和游戏手柄组成。
采用混合方法研究，纳入了埃塞俄比亚西南部4家医院的24名眼科护理专业人员，以评估GES的可接受性。采用前后设计，通过问卷调查和半结构化访谈收集使用GES前后的观点。使用Wilcoxon符号秩检验来确定问卷项目得分的任何变化的显著性（双侧，95%置信区间；α = 0.05）。问卷和访谈问题以技术接受与使用统一理论为指导。
使用前后均获得了积极结果，表明通过使用带有智能手机和游戏控制器的低成本头戴式设备进行青光眼筛查的移动健康解决方案是可接受的。与使用前问卷项目相比（双侧，95%置信区间；α = 0.05），86%（19/22）的使用后问卷项目平均得分有显著提高。眼科专业人员认为GES易于使用，是一种能够进行青光眼筛查测试的工具，特别是在向农村地区推广时。然而，积极评价取决于该工具的准确性。此外，眼科医生表示需要将该工具仅限于筛查（即不用于诊断）。
本研究支持在农村地区使用移动设备结合低成本虚拟现实头戴式设备和经典控制器进行青光眼筛查的可行性。GES有可能减轻青光眼导致的不可逆失明的负担。然而，需要进一步评估其敏感性和特异性。
