Sighting versus sensory ocular dominance

Abstract

Purpose: An indication of the laterality of ocular dominance (OD) informs the clinical decision making process when considering certain ophthalmic refractive and surgical interventions. Can predictive reliance be assured regardless of OD technique or is the indication of a dominant eye method-dependent? Methods: Two alternative OD test formats were administered to a group of 72 emmetropic healthy young adult subjects: the 'hole-in-card' test for sighting dominance and the '+1.50D blur' test for sensory dominance. Both techniques were chosen as being likely familiar to the majority of ophthalmic clinicians; to promote and expedite application during the examination routine neither test required specialist training nor equipment. Results: Right eye dominance was indicated in 71% of cases by the sighting test but in only 54% of subjects using the sensory test. The laterality of OD indicated for the individual subject by each technique was in agreement on only 50% of occasions. Conclusions: Reasons are considered for the poor intra-individual agreement between OD tests, along with an item of procedural advice for the clinician. © 2011 Spanish General Council of Optometry.