Evaluation of refraction with self refraction devices, USEE and folding FOROPTER (FOFO) in normal adult population

Abstract

Self-refraction tools allow users to determine their own refractive error. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of the self-refraction devices USEE and Folding foropter (FoFo) among adults in a resource poor nation by comparing final VA achieved from self-refraction and clinical manifest refraction. 150 participants aged eighteen years and above were recruited for the study of which 111 (69.38%) were deemed legible. All study procedures were carried out from Makerere University Hospital – Academic Vision Centre, Kampala. All participants were subjected to three stations. Station one; registration, VA and consent were taken. Self-refraction using and manifest refraction by a certified optometrist were done at station two and three respectively. Participants comprised of myopes and hyperopes with a mean (±SD) age of 29.14414 (13.01597). 46.85% were males 92.7% participants presented with VA of worse than 20/30 (6/9) in the better seeing eye. The proportion of subjects correctable to ≥20/30 for MR was 100% in the better-seeing eye. In conclusion, the USEE was easier to use. Both devices provided significantly improved VA compared to uncorrected vision, and resulted in vision that is 20/30 or better in over 90% of users. USEE allows instant distribution of glasses and immediate feedback on vision quality, this could help reduce the burden of uncorrected RE in low-resource communities.