The effectiveness of using peek acuity in vision screening for the admission of elementary school students

Background: Limiting close physical contact is key to helping reduce the spread of the coronavirus by using the portable eye examination kit (Peek Acuity), which has been recognized as a reliable and valid tool to measure visual acuity. This study is aimed to compare the effectiveness of the Peek Acuity and ETDRS (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study) chart as the gold standard for screening in school-age students. Methods: This study used an observational research design with cross-sectional data collection methods to compare the effectiveness of the Peek Acuity application diagnostic test and ETDRS chart for screening in school-age students. Sample collection was done by total sampling technique on students aged 6-12 from one of the elementary schools in Surabaya. The study was conducted from October 2019 to November 2019. OpenEpi analyzed the validity and reliability of the results to compare the effectiveness of Peek Acuity and the ETDRS chart. Results: There were 231 students with details aged 6-9 years, as many as 150 students and aged 10-12 years, as many as 81 students. On examination of visual acuity using peek acuity and ETDRS chart, it indicated that the number of subjects with refractive errors was more than normal eyes. Peek acuity has been shown to have low sensitivity and high specificity. Higher specificity was found in children aged 10-12 years compared to 6-9 years. Conclusion: The Peek Acuity application has higher effectiveness in screening than the ETDRS chart. It is practical, fast, and easy to use. The Peek Acuity application is considered effective for screening school-age students due to its high rate of specificity.