Description:
Importance: Despite high prevalence and visual implication of Glaucoma, the diagnosis and management of this disease is still a challenge because currently the instruments used are very expensive and not available in many referral hospitals
Objective: To determine the reliability of Portable Eye Examination Kit that is cheaper and easier to manage, in staging Glaucoma among patients attending Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Tanzania
Design, setting and Participants: Cross-sectional study conducted from October 2014 to May 2015, comparing results from smartphone Glaucoma staging to slit lamp indirect ophthalmoscopy (Gold standard).The study was conducted at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre and included 170 Glaucoma Patients aged 16 years and older recruited consecutively
Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was Glaucoma stage, and Pearson Coefficient between Peek and slit Lamp in staging Glaucoma was calculated.
Results: There was very strong correlation between PEEK and Slit Lamp in staging glaucoma using DDLS (r=0.8510, p<0.001), PEEK’s stage and slit lamp VCDR(r=0.8452,p<0.001) and PEEK,s stage and Slit Lamp HCDR(;r=0.8517;p<0.001).
Conclusion and Relevance: We concluded that PEEK is as good as Slit Lamp indirect ophthalmoscopy in staging Glaucoma and it can be used with eye staff in remote areas. We recommend further studies exploring the feasibility to equip non-eye staff with PEEK.