iPhone Visual Acuity Study

RECRUITMENT UNDERWAY FOR NIH-SPONSORED STUDY

Eye care for children involves testing vision in the doctor’s office on a regular basis. Bringing children and teenagers to and from the doctor’s office can be challenging for many families. Most times, the parent and child need to take time off work and school. Families may have transportation issues because of access or cost or both. An app was recently developed to measure vision using an iPhone at home.

The Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) has developed a study to see if testing vision at home using the app has similar results to testing vision in the office. The study is supported through funding from the National Eye Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health and is being coordinated by the Jaeb Center for Health Research in Tampa, Florida. About 525 children are expected to be enrolled.

In general, to take part in this study, the child must:

• be between 3 and 17.5 years old
• be able to have their vision tested in the doctor’s office
• have access to an iPhone that works with the home vision testing app with them at the doctor’s visit
• be able to use the same iPhone to test vision at home
• be able to return to the doctor’s office about 3 months after the start of the study

Also, the child must not

• have used eye drops to dilate their eyes within the last 30 days
• use eye drops to dilate their eyes during the study
• have had lens(es) in their eye(s) surgically removed and not replaced
• have any condition that would limit their ability to do the iPhone testing at home

How Can You Help?

• Your assistance is needed in referring children who may qualify.
• Referrals can be sent to the investigator listed below, or for more information,

visit the PEDIG website at http://pedig.net/ or call the PEDIG Coordinating Center toll free at 1-888-797-3344