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The article presents abstracts of various research papers that were presented at the meeting of The Society for Experimental Optometry at Birmingham, England on July 15-16, 1991. Some of the papers presents are "Effects of Different Ocular Fixation Conditions on A-Scan Ultrasound Biometry Measurements," by C.F. Steel, D.P. Crabb and D.F. Edgar, "The Accuracy of Pallor Boundary Tracking in a Computerized Optic Nerve Head Assessment System," by Michael J. Cox and Ivan C.J. Wood, and "Topography of Visual Evoked Magnetic Responses to Pattern Shift, Pattern Onset and Flash Stimuli," by A. Slaven, C. Degg and R.A. Armstrong.

This article presents abstracts of papers presented at City University Centenary Conference, in London, England on June 1, 1994. All the speakers at the conference were former undergraduate or postgraduate students of the Department of Optometry and Visual Science at the university. One of the papers focused on the correction of presbyopia. According to researcher M.H. Freeman, any corrective device for presbyopia must provide acceptable optical quality over the corrective effect required. Another paper talked about the ocular response to sustained visual tasks. Various other topics on which papers were presented included retinoscopy, corneal regeneration and glaucoma.

This article presents abstracts of papers presented at the British Congress of Optometry and Vision Science held in Manchester, England during September 8-9, 1998. One of the papers investigated the possible changes in visual performance after photorefractive keratectomy. Another paper investigated the relationship between congenital heart problems and refractive error in infants and young children with down's syndrome. In one of the papers the use of neutral density filters has been proposed as a means of distinguishing between functional and organic amblyopia. Various other topics discussed in different papers included age-related cataract and visual field in the osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis.

Background: There is very little published work on the visual needs of homeless people. This paper is the first study to investigate the visual needs of homeless people in the UK. Although similar work has been done in other countries, this study is unique because the United Kingdom is the only country with a National Health Service which provides free healthcare at the point of access. This study analysed the refractive status of the sample used, determined the demographics of homeless people seeking eye care and established if there is a need for community eye health with access to free spectacle correction in East London.Methods: This retrospective case study analysed the clinical records of 1,141 homeless people using the Vision Care for Homeless People services at one of their clinics in East London. All eye examinations were carried out by qualified optometrists and, where appropriate, spectacles were dispensed to patients. Data captured included age, gender, ethnicity and refractive error. Results were analysed using two-sample t-tests with Excel and Minitab.Results: Demographics of age, gender and ethnicity are described. Spherical equivalents (SE) were calculated from prescription data available for 841 clinic users. Emmetropia was defined as SE-0.50DS to +1DS, myopia as SE < -0.50DS, and hyperopia as SE > +1DS. The majority of clinic users were male (79.2 %, n = 923). Approximately 80 % (n = 583) of clinic users were white, 10 % (n = 72) were 'black', 4 % (n = 29) 'Asian' and the remaining 5.6 % (n = 40) were of 'mixed ethnicity' and 'other' groups. The mean age of females attending the clinic was significantly lower than that of males (45.9 years, SD = 13.8 vs' 48.4 years, SD = 11.8) when analysed using a two-sample t-test (t (317) = 2.44, p = 0.02). One third of service users were aged between 50-59 years. Myopia and hyperopia prevalence rates were 37.0 % and 21.0 % respectively. A total of 34.8 % of homeless people were found to have uncorrected refractive error, and required spectacle correction.Conclusions: This study has identified a high proportion of uncorrected refractive error in this sample and therefore a need for regular eye examinations and provision of refractive correction for homeless people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Preventable sight loss is one of the Public Health Outcome Indicators in England. Despite availability of NHS-funded eye examinations, many people do not take up their entitlement. This paper explores older adults understanding of eye health and the purpose of eye examinations and the reasons why they do or do not attend for eye examinations. The aim is to provide evidence to inform policy on increasing uptake of eye examinations among older people who have increased risk of preventable sight loss., Methods: 10 focus-group meetings were held with people living in deprived areas of Leeds, recruited via community groups and neighbourhood networks. Focus groups were transcribed and a thematic analysis approach was used., Results: The majority of participants were aged over 60, wore spectacles, and had regular eye examinations. Most were eligible for a NHS-funded eye examination. There was poor knowledge about eye disease and the purpose of different elements of the eye examination. Participants felt very vulnerable about getting the tests 'wrong' and looking foolish. Wearing of spectacles was associated with appearing old and frail. Many did not trust the veracity of optometrists, and perceived opticians to be expensive places, where it was difficult to control spending. Many had experienced 'hard sell' and opaque pricing. Most, but not all, were happy with the optometric services received. Participants indicated a preference for utilising a local optometrist located alongside other familiar health care services., Conclusion: Not-for-profit services co-located with other public services are needed to address concerns about cost of spectacles, lack of trust in optometrists, and poor access to eye examinations in local settings. It will also be important to raise public understanding about the purpose of eye examinations in terms of other causes of preventable sight loss and not just refractive error and need for spectacles., (© 2013 The Authors Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics © 2013 The College of Optometrists.)

Introduction: We have established one model for community care of glaucoma clinic patients. Community optometrists received training and accreditation in glaucoma care. Once qualified they alternated between running half day glaucoma clinics in their own High Street practices and assisting in a hospital-based glaucoma clinic session. This paper reports the cost of this model., Methods: Micro-costing was undertaken for the hospital clinic. A consensus meeting was held to agree costs for community clinics involving all optometrists in the project along with representatives of the multiple chain optometry practices who had participated. Costs to patients both indirect and direct were calculated following structured interviews of 197 patients attending hospital clinics and 194 attending community clinics., Results: The estimated cost per patient attendance to the hospital clinic was £63.91 and the estimated cost per attendance to the community clinic was £145.62. For patients the combined direct and indirect cost to attend the hospital clinic was £6.15 and the cost to attend the community clinic £5.91., Discussion: The principal reason for the higher cost in the community clinic was higher overhead costs in the community. Re-referral to the hospital system only occurred for 9% of patients and was not a large contribution to the increased cost. Time requested to next appointment was similar for the two clinics. Sensitivity analysis shows a strong effect of increasing patients seen per clinic. It would, however, require 25 patients to be seen per clinician per day in the community in order to make the costs comparable.

Purpose: To investigate the reproducibility of the sphero-cylindrical prescriptions provided by 40 optometrists., Methods: Forty registered optometrists were randomly selected from the cities of Oxford and Westminster in the UK to perform a sphero-cylindrical refraction on an asymptomatic 29-year-old male subject. The 95% limits of reproducibility for each component of refraction were assessed and are presented together with scatterplots, distribution ellipsoids and polar profiles of dioptric power., Results: The mean stigmatic (spherical equivalent) refraction for the right eye was -0.83 D (S.D. = 0.28 D) with 95% limits of agreement -1.38 and -0.28 D. The 95% reproducibility limits for stigmatic data [1.96(square root of 2) (S.D.)] was 0.78 D. The average inter-ocular difference in the stigmatic components of refraction was -0.044 D (S.D. = 0.20 D) but estimates ranged from -0.50 to +0.50 D. Mean ortho- and oblique antistigmatic refractions were -0.23 D (S.D. = 0.084 D) and -0.14 D (S.D. = 0.086 D) respectively., Conclusions: The findings of this paper suggest that refractions performed by multiple optometrists on a single eye will differ in their stigmatic component by over 0.78 D on average not more than once in 20 refractions. The reproducibility of refractions reported here, approximately twice as variable as those reported under repeatability conditions, has profound implications for the analysis of refractive data collected by multiple optometrists over the course of replication, longitudinal and epidemiological studies.

A survey of usage of low vision aids (LVAs) by 56 children with visual impairment, who were attending mainstream schools in Wirral, was undertaken. A total of 25% of children owned an LVA and 5% were using these on a regular basis. These low levels of ownership and usage led to the development of a low vision service involving the collaboration of education and health care. This paper describes the development of that service, its elements and implementation. The results from the new service show that of the 29 children issued with an LVA, 82.7% are using them on a regular basis. Having an integrated service is shown to significantly improve LVA usage in the group of children seen so far. The service results are discussed with suggestions for future service development.

Purpose: The need to validate core competency skills in qualified optometrists wishing to take part in extended roles in glaucoma care has been questioned. This analysis examines the ability of qualified optometrists to perform relevant core competency skills under standardised objective assessment conditions to explore whether such validation is justified. It also investigates if there are associations between performance, gender and length of time since qualification. Methods: Anonymised data from the Cardiff University assessment programme for the Wales Optometry Postgraduate Education Centre (WOPEC) Local Optical Committee Support Unit glaucoma referral filtering and monitoring pathway delivered between January 2017 and March 2020 were analysed. Results were combined with demographic data from the General Optical Council register of optometrists in the UK to investigate associations between performance and practitioner characteristics, namely length of time since qualification and gender. Results: The assessment results of 2215 optometrists practising in England (approximately 15% of all UK registered optometrists and 30% of all optometrists registered in England) were analysed. Failure rates for first time assessment in each of five objective structured clinical examination style practical assessments were 8.5% (van Herick); 8.8% (slit lamp binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy); 10.1% (Goldmann applanation tonometry calibration); 21.9% (Goldmann applanation tonometry) and 23.3% (case scenario interpretation and management). There were either no associations or at most very weak associations between performance and practitioner characteristics. Conclusions: Our results suggest that these competencies are not universally present in optometrists practising in England and that ongoing training and assessment of these competencies is justified for entry into extended roles. There are no meaningful associations between performance in these assessments and gender or time since qualification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Institute of Optometry in London, England. Institute of Optometry was known before as London Refraction Hospital. It states that the hospital was established in 1922 and was known in the world of optometry. It has launched an appeal for 500,000 pound that enables it to support major research programme and modernize its clinical facilities and provides educational facilities and equipment.

This article presents an announcement related to optometry conference as of January 1997. Biennial conferences on clinical optometry of College of Optometrist in London, England, will be held in New York in March 1998. The conference will provide a comprehensive update on the development, use and restoration of vision with keynote addresses, papers on recent advances in clinical vision science and an integrated programme of continuing professional education. The format and content of the conference will appeal to all sectors of the optometric community especially the general optometric practitioner who wishes to extend his or her level of expertise in the delivery of primary health care.

Analysis of 98 progressive addition lens (PAL) wearers was undertaken using both mailed questionnaires and by assessing patient records. Statistical analysis was undertaken to investigate the nature and dependant variables of a PAL population. The PAL patients were from the Aston University undergraduate optometric clinic. Social survey techniques, such as the use of personalized mail, first-class stamps, and follow-up letters, were employed to produce a high return rate for the questionnaire. The number of returned questionnaires reached 89.9 % of those originally sent which may be considered to be highly representative. The clinical survey showed the success rate for the undergraduate clinic to be either 85.7% or 80.6% depending upon the criterion for successful wear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a century of research on colour photometry conducted at Imperial College in London, England in 1886-1986. It discusses the investigations on vision covering the 60 years from 1926 to 1986, linking the studies to the experiment of optometrist W. de W. Abney on colour vision in 1886. It also highlights the connection of the studies from Abney to John Parsons to Dr. L. C. Martin and the Medical Research Council. Details on these researches on colour vision are included.

The beginning of the long march of British optometry to professional status was signaled by the founding of the British Optical Association in 1895. In the subsequent campaign, a vital role was played by a remarkable group of mainly young optometrists who formed the volunteer clinical stall of the London, England-based London Refraction Hospital in its earliest years, the l920s. Leonard A. Swann died in 1990 at the age of 87. He was, the last surviving member of this group which had also included such distinguished names as John Cole, Claude Dupont, George Giles, Walter Green, Frederick Hawkes and A. W. S. Raxworthy. To these and many others of a like mind in all parts of Great Britain optometry owes an enormous debt.

This article focuses on Alan Tomlinson, optometrists, who was appointed chair at the department of the optometry and vision science at Glasgow Polytechnic in Scotland. Tomlinson comes to the department with a wide experience of optometry as a practitioner, academic and industrial scientist. After obtaining the Diploma in Optometry from the Bradford Institute of Technology in 1965, in England, he spent a period in full time clinical practice. He returned to the University of Bradford, England, to become the first post-graduate student in the School of Ophthalmic Optics in England.

The article offers information on the London Refraction Hospital in England. The charitable institution has more than 100 unpaid voluntary optometric staff and relies on donations to survive financially. It aims to provide treatment of the eye on terms appropriate to the means of patients, to promote optical sciences and to improve human vision. The hospital offers special courses for practising optometrists.