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Visual Acuity Test: Equipment Needed

A visual acuity test measures central vision function by having a patient read letters of decreasing size on a Snellen chart from 20 feet away. The test is performed monocularly by occluding one eye. A patient's visual acuity is recorded as the smallest line read, such as 20/40. Additional notation may indicate partial reading of the next smallest line. Visual acuity is tested both with and without any corrective lenses to assess acuity with and without correction.

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299 views

Visual Acuity Test: Equipment Needed

A visual acuity test measures central vision function by having a patient read letters of decreasing size on a Snellen chart from 20 feet away. The test is performed monocularly by occluding one eye. A patient's visual acuity is recorded as the smallest line read, such as 20/40. Additional notation may indicate partial reading of the next smallest line. Visual acuity is tested both with and without any corrective lenses to assess acuity with and without correction.

Uploaded by

melannie napisa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Visual Acuity Test

- A commonly used test to measure visual function. It is important to measure


visual acuity (VA) in most circumstances because it provides a simultaneous
measurement of central corneal clarity, central lens clarity, central macular
function and optic nerve conduction.

Equipment needed:
- Multi-letter Snellen chart or E chart

- Eye occluder, card or tissue

- Pen torch or penlight


Procedure:
1. Make sure that the room or examination area is well lit.
2. Explain to the patient that this is not a test that they have to pass but a test
to help us know how their eyes are working. Inform the patient not to guess if
they cannot see.
3. Position the patient 6 meters or 20 feet away from the chart.
4. Test the eye one at a time.
 If the patient is wearing prescription glasses, test it first without the
glasses
5. Ask the patient to cover one eye with the eye occlude, card or tissue.
 The occluder must not be pressed on the eye as this can distort vision
when the occluded eye is tested
6. Ask the patient to read the letters from the top of the chart and from left to
right.
 For patients with language difficulties, use an E chart; ask the patient
the direction of where the ‘legs’ of the E are facing
 Patients may have the tendency to memorize the chart, usage of
different charts or asking them to read it backwards usually helps in
making the test more accurate.
7. Let the patient continue to read until cannot read the line clearly and starts
to make multiple errors. The previous line with minimal to no errors is the line
documented
NOTES:
Distance (ft) at
which a ‘normal’
eye is able to read
the line of the chart

Distance between the


chart and the patient

 The patient was able to read all the


letters in line 5 correctly but was only able to read only the first letter of the
next line. The patient’s visual acuity reading is 20/40.
 The patient was able to 4 letters correctly in line 7 and on the next line, the
patient was only able to read 3 letters correctly. The patient’s visual acuity
reading is 20/25 +3. The +3 in the reading indicates that the patient was
able to read 3 letters in the next line correctly.
 If the patient cannot read the largest letter at 6m or 20 ft, move the patient
closer 1 m or 4 ft at a time until the top letter can be seen. The VA will then
be recorded as 16/200.

 If the patient still cannot read the letter at 3 ft or 1 m, hold up your fingers at
varying distances of less than 3 ft or 1 m and check whether the patient can
count them. This is recorded as counting fingers (CF): VA = CF
 If the patient still cannot count the fingers, wave your hand and check if the
patient can see it. This is recoded as hand movements (HM): VA = HM
 If the patient cannot see hand movements, shine a torch toward the eye and
ask if they are able to see it. If they can, record ’perception of light’ (PL): VA
= PL. If they cannot, record ‘no perception of light’ (NPL): VA = NPL.
8. After testing without wearing any correction, test the patient while wearing
any current distance prescription glasses and record the VA in each eye
separately, with correction
9. Repeat the whole procedure for the second eye

SAMPLE DOCUMENTATION:
1. Right VA: 20/100 without correction; Left VA: 20/40 without correction
Right VA: 20/40 with correction; Left VA: 20/25 +3 with correction
2. Right VA: HM without correction; Left VA: 20/50 without correction
3. Right VA: CF without correction; Left VA: HM without correction
Right VA: 20/70 with correction; Left VA: 20/100 with correction

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