Search

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.

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]

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.

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.