Question

A medical assistant is to use the Snellen chart to test an adult patient's visual activity. The assistant should instruct the patient to stand at which of the following distances away?

1) 20 feet
2) 10 feet
3) 5 feet
4) 2 feet

Answer 1

To test visual acuity with the Snellen chart, the patient should be instructed to stand 20 feet away from the chart, as this is the standard distance used to determine clarity of vision.

Step-by-step explanation:

When using the Snellen chart to test visual acuity, the medical assistant should instruct the adult patient to stand at a distance of 20 feet away from the chart. According to the design of the Snellen chart, the letters on it are arranged to be seen from this distance by a person with normal vision. The chart allows medical professionals to determine visual acuity levels, such as 20/20 vision or 20/200 vision, by having patients read lines of letters that decrease in size and represent what a person of normal acuity could read at varying distances.