title: Does encouragement boost visual acuity testing results?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the hypothesis: 'Patients who receive encouragement during visual acuity testing achieve better scores than patients who receive no encouragement'.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty patients were randomly selected from general eye clinics with five exclusions. A quasi-experimental, non-equivalent comparison before/after design was used to consider the way patients' vision is tested using the Snellen visual acuity chart in the eye department at Kettering General Hospital.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results were significant (t = 5.78 df=49 p < 0.001) and supported the initial hypothesis that 'patients who receive encouragement during visual acuity testing achieve better scores than patients who receive no encouragement'.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the study suggest that the subjects did get better visual acuity scores when encouragement was used and recommendations were made to change the clinic protocol.
authors.affiliation: Kettering General Hospital NHS Trust.
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003142:Communication; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D007697:Kinesics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D012944:Social Support; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards; D014792:Visual Acuity