Survey Finds 89% of Patients Have No Idea What Their Prescription Numbers Mean

A survey conducted by the British College of Optometrists has found that 89 percent of spectacle-wearing patients cannot explain what any of the numbers on their prescription mean, with the majority describing their visual correction in terms that are 'technically meaningless but emotionally vivid.' The survey, which polled 2,000 prescription spectacle wearers, found that the most common description of their prescription was 'quite bad,' followed by 'not terrible but not great,' 'worse than my sister's,' and 'some minuses and a dot something.' Only 11 percent could correctly identify the meaning of the sphere, cylinder, and axis values. Two percent could explain what a prism correction is. Zero percent correctly defined the abbreviation 'Add.' 'One respondent told us her prescription was negative four,' said survey lead Dr. Iris Diopter. 'When we asked what that meant, she said it meant she was a negative four, as though it were a score out of ten. She has been telling people this at dinner parties. She describes herself as a negative four the way someone might describe themselves as a Capricorn.' Another respondent reported that his optometrist had told him his cylinder was 'a bit high,' which he interpreted as meaning his eyes were 'cylindrical, which would explain why they're the wrong shape for my face.' The survey also found that 34 percent of respondents believe a higher minus number means better vision (it means worse), 22 percent think the axis is 'something to do with the Earth,' and 15 percent believe their prescription expires 'like milk.' The College has announced plans to develop a patient-facing guide explaining prescription notation. A draft was tested with focus groups, who described it as 'interesting but still confusing, maybe just tell us if it's bad or not.'