Certified Ophthalmic Assistant Practice Exam 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

If a patient cannot distinguish the largest letter on a Snellen chart, determining whether the patient can see fingers at a given distance is an appropriate next step. This method, known as "finger-counting," is used when visual acuity is very poor, and it helps assess the patient's vision more accurately than the Snellen chart when standard letters cannot be seen.

This approach is particularly useful in cases of severe visual impairment, as it allows the assistant to gauge the patient's vision at a closer range, providing valuable information for the practitioner regarding the patient's current visual capabilities.

The other options may not provide useful data in situations where visual acuity is already very limited. For example, checking for color blindness is irrelevant if the patient cannot see letters; similarly, proceeding to the next line does not yield valuable information when the largest letters are not distinguishable. Changing the chart could be unhelpful as it does not address the root issue of the patient’s inability to perceive larger characters.