The Results Of The DEM Test On An Adult Population.

The Developmental Eye Movement Test (DEM) is a well-known test frequently
used with children to evaluate the accuracy and speed of fine saccades, such as the ones used in reading. The DEM has the advantage over other similar tests in that it, "Factors out consequences of automaticity on oculomotor performance," according to the Journal of the American Optometric Association. The test is also applied to adults in a clinical setting with suspected oculomotor deficits, but the test does not provide normative data for this population of people, there are only results up to and including age 13.We performed the DEM during a routine comprehensive eye exam on an adult
population to determine normative data, because the test only provides data up to the age of 13. The DEM was performed exactly as outlined in the test booklet provided with the DEM. The study involved 200 people of no particular gender or race who were between the ages of 18 and 40. The subjects did not have any history of ocular disease,
strabismus, amblyopia, eye muscle dysfunction, vision therapy, reading disorders such as dyslexia, accommodative problems, or learning disabilities. All participants had a 20/20 best corrected near visual acuity in each eye. The goal of the study is to determine if an adult would perform similar to a 13 year-old.