When it comes to getting an annual eye exam, optometrists aren’t much better than average Americans. Fewer than one-third (31.7%) of O.D.s say they’ve had a full eye exam in the past year, according to results from Review of Optometry’s recent Diagnostic Technology Survey.
Sight Gags by Scott Lee, O.D.
About 12% of O.D.s haven’t had an eye exam in a decade or longer.
Specifically, we asked optometrists, “How long has it been since you had a complete eye examination?” The good news is that about 66% of optometrists answered they had one in the last two years.
In comparison, 55% of adult Americans said they had a dilated exam within two years.1
But that means that about one-third of optometrists haven’t had a complete eye exam in three years or more.
In fact, about 16% said it’s been three to five years, 5.8% said it’s been six to nine years, and nearly 12% of optometrists haven’t had an eye exam in 10 years or more.
(See also “
Get Your Head Examined!”)
1. Dilated eye examinations. National Eye Institute. Available at:
www.nei.nih.gov/healthyvision/objective/examinations.asp. Accessed September 19, 2012.
