Subjective Refraction Techniques

Excerpt

A patient with refractive error needs correction in the form of spectacle or contact lenses to see clearly. The technique of finding out correct and suitable lenses for a particular patient is known as subjective refraction.

Subjective refraction may be performed after objective refraction or can be done without that. However, it should be carried out after the objective refraction to be more precise. This will help save time and energy in detecting the refractive error with accuracy. However, subjective refraction comes in handy in cases with corneal edema, dense lenticular opacity, or hazy media, where it is difficult to get a reliable retinoscopy.

When the patient has been subjected to cycloplegic retinoscopy, it is better to perform subjective refraction once the drug effect wears off. It will be challenging to perform subjective refraction in very young children, mentally challenged patients, and uncooperative patients. Hence the prescription is given based on objective refraction in such cases.

This activity will describe the instruments required, procedure, indications, interfering factors, and clinical significance of retinoscopy.