Validation of the eye screening tool GoCheck Kids for the detection of amblyopia risk factors in toddlers in Flanders.

Purpose: To assess the validity of the GoCheck Kids photoscreening application (Gobiquity Mobile Health, Scottdale, AZ) on iPhone, which was used (2018-2022) as standard of care by Child and Family (Kind en Gezin) to detect amblyopia risk factors in children 12-30 months of age.

Methods: Between August 2021 and May 2022, 453 children 11-16 months of age underwent a confirmatory ophthalmic examination within 2 months of GoCheck Kids photoscreening at Child and Family, Flanders, Belgium. Additionally, manual review was performed by specialists of GoCheck Kids. Diagnostic metrics were assessed using the 2013 criteria of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus as reference.

Results: Specificity was similar for automatic screening with or without manual review: 90.0% (95% CI, 87.6%-92.3%) and 90.3% (95% CI, 88.0%-92.7%), respectively. Sensitivity was estimated at 52.0% (95% CI, 35.6%-68.4%) for automatic grading and 56.0% (95% CI, 39.7%-72.3%) after manual review. Positive predictive values for automatic screening and manual review were, respectively, 23.2% (95% CI, 13.9-32.5) and 25.5% (95% CI, 15.8-35.1). Negative predictive values for automatic screening and manual review were, respectively, 97.0% (95% CI, 95.6-98.4) and 97.2 (95% CI, 95.8-98.6).

Conclusions: In our study cohort of children around 12 months of age, the GoCheck Kids application had a specificity of 90% for the targeted amblyopia risk factors, with sensitivity just over 50%.