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Abstract
The Melbourne Acuity Screening Test (MAST) is a vision screening technique which combines the features of a linear presentation, incorporating a crowding effect with a pass/fail test protocol. It is a simple, quick screening test which can be used for both literate and illiterate people. This paper reports on the preliminary results of a comparison of the pass/fail method with that of the measurement of threshold linear acuity. The evaluation consisted of four parts: (1) test-retest and reliability of the MAST and Sheridan Gardiner (SG) linear test; (2) concurrent validity of the MAST compared with the SG linear test; (3) a limited negative predictive study, and (4) a comparison of the time taken to perform the MAST versus the measurement of threshold acuity. The test-retest reliability for both tests was high. The agreement, determined by Cohenþs kappa, ranged between 0.71 and 0.79. The agreement between the MAST and the SG linear test was also high, ranging between 0.88 and 0.89. The negative predictive value was 100%. The positive predictive value was 85.7%. The MAST was also significantly quicker to perform, taking approximately half the time of the SG linear test.