College Students And Athletes: Do Visual Abilities Meet Demands?

In this study, we are evaluating vision screening exams to determine if the subject's visual abilities meet their visual demands. The subjects we are using in this study are college students and college athletes who came to the vision screenings provided by the Michigan College of Optometry. The college students came voluntarily to the vision screenings offered at their residence halls. The athletes were required to attend the vision screenings. At the vision screenings, the students and athletes had a basic screening of their visual acuity, binocular
vision, and ocular health. After reviewing the screening exam forms, we are comparing the results to the demands of the different sports that the athletes play and the demands of a college student to see if their visual abilities meet their visual demands. If the visual abilities do not meet the demands, the student's academic or athletic performance could be suffering. This study found the highest percentage of failed vision screenings in Men's Tennis (33.33 %) and Men's Track and Cross Country (33.33%), and the lowest percentage in Women's Track
and Cross Country (0%), Cheerleading (0%), and Women's Tennis (0%). In the residence halls, 29.30% of students failed the vision screening. Improvement in an athletes' or student's visual system could improve both their scholastic performance and the performance in their chosen sport. The results of this study could prove valuable to both college coaches and administrators.